It was tough for Alpana and Neeraj as they kept trying for two days to ferry to veterinary hospital a stray dog — with a tumour, weighing almost 2 kg, hanging around its neck. Once Alpana spotted the stray dog near Detwal village on Wednesday, she called up People for Animals (PFA), the nationwide NGO with Union minister Maneka Gandhi as its chairperson. The local unit of PFA has an ambulance but without a driver. Parked at PFA shelter on Rahon Road for months, the ambulance is of no help to the injured animals and birds during emergencies. “They told me that I have to arrange for transport and ferry the animal to their shelter. I did that. PFA agreed to keep the animal at their shelter during night time but there were no proper arrangements at the shelter to take care of its medical needs,” said Alpana. [related-post] Dr Sandeep Jain, president of PFA Ludhiana, however, said, “I already told the woman that we do not have a driver. We have not been getting a permanent employee for months, though we are ready to pay a salary of Rs 7,000 per month. The ambulance has been non-operational for quite some time but recently we got it repaired too. Since three years there have been no funds from the state or Central government for PFA Ludhiana, and we are running on donations only.” Jain claimed that the “dog was given complete care during its stay at the shelter”. On Thursday and Friday, Alpana struggled to arrange transport for the dog to be taken to Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) vet hospital. Finally, local resident Neeraj agreed to lend his vehicle and ferry the dog from PFA shelter to GADVASU hospital. For three long hours doctors operated upon the dog. Later, after paying the dues of around Rs 2,500, Alpana and Neeraj left for home with the dog. “PFA said that they had no driver. They have an ambulance but no one to drive it. Then I contacted Vipan Bhatia from Pakshi Sewa Samiti and Shital Prakash who helped me to bring the dog up to the hospital and its X-rays were done. Again on Friday morning, there was none to ferry the dog to hospital for operation. Then Neeraj offered help,” said Alpana. Dr Vandana Sanghwan, assistant professor (surgery), GADVASU, told Newsline, “The tumour weighed 2 kilograms. Not only it is painful but it can be cancerous too. It has been sent for biopsy and the report will come in around 10 days. It has already spread to lungs and the dog was very old (8-10 years). The operation has provided temporary relief to the dog; now eating will be comfortable. When the dog came to us, its condition was too painful and serious.”
