ANIMAL rescue centres in Pakistan are not popular. Karachi has only 10 or 12 such rescue centres. They rescue those animals which are sick and critically injured.

But we can also see animals on roads, including stray cats and dogs having no shelter. They are not vaccinated and some of these dogs and cats have rabies and dangerous injuries.

Sometimes people call animal rescue centres but they demand transportation charges and also ask for donations. Owing to this reason, the population of stray animals has been increasing.

Sometimes citizens face dangerous and poisonous animals like snake and mongoose. In such situations, citizens need to communicate with animal rescue centres urgently but they ask the people to tackle the problem themselves. As a result, people get hurt.

People having a pet vaccinate their animal, but in Pakistan there are few hospitals for animals. There are even some doctors who do not have a degree; they don’t administer the correct vaccine to the animal. People must get vaccination cards from the doctor after vaccination of the animal and must de-worm the animal after three months.

In foreign countries, if an animal is afflicted with a fatal disease doctors administer an injection to kill it. Animal control and rescue centres there work fast. One hardly finds a sick animal on the road.

Our government must take notice of stray, paralysed, and sick animals and open government animal control and rescue centres.

Subul Shariq

Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2019