PESHAWAR: Civil Veterinary Hospital in Peshawar may look upgraded with new colourful signboards of a “Pets Clinic” claiming to provide diagnostic and surgery services but signs are deceptive. Once you enter the clinic, there is no staff but only a chained up fridge having medicines.

There is a huge difference between reality and appearance of the hospital and the services it provides just as one cannot differentiate between the staff and the owners of sick animals. The staff members are never seen wearing any specific coat or name tag to distinguish them from the visitors bringing in their sick animals.

Shahid, a teenager, who had brought his sick donkey in a Suzuki vehicle, was trying to solace the sick beast of burden. He said that he spent more than Rs200 to buy medicines prescribed by the vet. He had tried all remedies at home and the hospital was his last hope. Two men carrying their sick goat on a mat were told to pick it up and shift it to a nearby laboratory.

The hospital with only 10 staff members, according to a staffer present on the spot, usually receives about 30 to 35 such large animals of labour or dairy-animals daily.

The official admitted that they were often short of staff, vaccination and medicines.

Pets Clinic at veterinary hospital has only colourful photos of animals

In such a hospital that lacks facilities, care and staff, boards carrying colourful photos of pets like a German shepherd dog, a Persian cat, pigeons and parrots look quite out of place.

Dr Sher Mohammad, the director general livestock and dairy development department, said that “Pet Clinic” in the veterinary hospital was one among others to be set up under a scheme called “establishment of pets clinics at divisional headquarters in KP” with approved amount of Rs148 million.

The main hall of the clinic meant for surgeries, according to a staffer, was turned into a makeshift dining hall where the staff was making their lunch ready. On one side of the room a large fridge, carrying medicines confirmed the staffer, was chained up and locked.

The officials of livestock and dairy development department, who have been running their own private pet clinics successfully for decades in the provincial capital, are unable to make this one “Pet Clinic” in the veterinary hospital operational so far. Avoiding giving any specific date of its inauguration, the official said that the clinic could not become operational as they were unable to hire staff owing to the ban, recently imposed by Election Commission of Pakistan on new recruitments.

However, he said that the clinic would be inaugurated soon.

Asad, who turned up at the clinic as he had heard about it to see if he could bring his German shepherd for vaccination, was disappointed to see that there was no staff and medicines were locked.

There was no assurance when the clinic would be made functional.

“I once brought my dog to the clinic and the vet was afraid to touch it. A senior official at the hospital, who also had his own private pet clinic, did not touch the sick dog too,” said Sara, who had doubts the pet clinic even if made operational would ever have trained and pet-friendly staff.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2018