The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

After heat challenge, monsoon ailments concern for animals

TILU, A seven-month-old Indian Spitz wearing a muzzle mask, lay impatientl­y in bed at the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC) as a drip ran through her vein.shehasbeen­diagnosedw­ith dengue. As the treatment went on, Tilu's owner held her paws gently for almost an hour to soothe her.

With the intense heat giving way to monsoon last week, concern over diseases such as canine distemper virus, hemorrhagi­c fever, tick fever, vector-borne diseases, mite infections, and highly contagious canine parvovirus infections among animals have grown.

Ajay Kainth, manager of SGACC, said the frequency of skin infections has increased since the beginning of the monsoon with one to two cases reported every day. Goldy, the in-charge of the catssectio­n,said,“duringthis­season, our main concern is hypothermi­a, so we cannot bathe the cats. Additional­ly, they are prone to bed sores due to the higher moisture levels from increased humidity. We need to consistent­ly treat their wounds with ointment. Otherwise, they are vulnerable to maggots.”

Medicaldir­ectorvijay­panwar said, “High humidity, along with dampness or dark surroundin­gs, increases the risk of skin infection amonganima­ls.”ashok,thecaretak­er for birds, said, “If the birds get drenched, and it has already lost a considerab­le number of feathers,itcannotla­ndsafely.this can lead to numerous accidents and shoulder ruptures.”

Last year, SGACC reported around275c­asesofhypo­thermia, 300dengue,375tickfev­er,300canine parvovirus and around 210 skin infections during monsoon.

Rishi Dev, an animal activist, said, “Animals are not suffering because of the monsoon it is because of the rift between human beings and animals ...When the humans make animals dependent for survival, the animals get trapped.”