Hyderabad needs burial ground for pets

Pet lovers are literally running from pillar to post for a place

When Shradda’s seven-year-old dog died, what pained her more than the death was the horrific experience of burying her pet. She had to keep her dead pet in her house for two days. On the first day, she contacted an NGO where there was no proper response. She then called the GHMC’s helpline number 9704601866 where she was directed to another number 9989971569. Her day was lost when the official on the phone kept complaining of not being able to hear what Shradda was saying. A day was lost. The next day, she went to a veterinary hospital where she was asked to contact the sanitary inspector of the area. The inspector said that there was no staff and that a team would visit her house the next day.

Getting a burial arranged for a pet is next to impossible despite the presence of several animal activists groups. Since there is no accessible place for animal burial, some pet owners choose to bury their pets in their compounds. But that depends on availability of space.

People living in apartments have no choice but to keep the decomposed body with them until some arrangement is made. Others are known to dump the body in garbage bins. Animal bodies decompose quickly and getting a speedy burial is important.

"We have been requesting the GHMC for a long time to give us some land for this purpose but nothing has been done. What can we do?" say Shradda and her friends who are animal lovers.

The city needs a common burial ground for animals. A cold room for storing bodies would also help.

"We understand the need for an animal burial ground in Hyderabad. When some people call, we take the pets and bury in some cremation grounds near Saroornagar and LB Nagar. As of now the sanitation wing of GHMC is attending to the burial of pets,” says GHMC’s Additional Commissioner for health Ravi Kumar.