Shocking! Pets 'treated' by clinic owner, not doctors

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She would use rubber stamps of two vets who worked for her, prescribed medicines herself; trio booked after pup's death

A pet clinic owner and two veterinarians were booked by the police on Wednesday for negligence in treating a golden retriever pup, and causing its death. Police said the one-and-half-month-old pup was treated for gastro when it had jaundice.

His owner approached the police after the incident in June, but the action came after an inquiry by an expert veterinarian and two others, who found the accused guilty. Police also found that the owner of the clinic allegedly treated animals on her own, and used the rubber stamps of the vets on the prescriptions.

Dr Anil Ramkrishna Deshpande, assistant commissioner of the Animal Husbandry department, lodged a criminal complaint against businesswoman Ishita Lal, 35, Dr Dilip Sonune, 30, and Dr Apurva Gujrati, 28, on Wednesday. Dr Deshpande and a panel of two others probed the case.

Yogesh Gawli, 37, had gifted the dog to his two daughters on their birthday. Later, he realised he was not keeping well and found My Pet Care clinic on the web. He said Lal claimed the dog had gastro and would have to be admitted. Gawli said the dog was kept in the hospital for 15 days and he spent around R60,000 on treatment. He got the dog discharged when he realised he was not being treated properly. "I was shocked to see the post mortem report which mentioned that he died due to jaundice."

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