Is your beloved pet in medical emergency? If yes, you may have to travel down south as the city does not have a canine blood bank.
Is your beloved pet in medical emergency? If yes, you may have to travel down south as the city does not have a canine blood bank.
The only animal blood bank of country is situated in Chennai. 
Gizmo, a four-and-a-half-year-old beagle died as he could not get a blood transfusion in time
The Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (BSPCA) had a blood bank about five years ago, but then they closed it down.
BSPCA secretary Lt Col (Dr) JC Khanna, said, "Ours is a charitable trust and we cannot afford to have a blood bank for animals.
We do not have proper means for blood storage. However, we do carry out blood transfusion for veterinary patients who are in need."
Even though the blood transfusion is carried out, the matching and blood-typing takes a long time, which can prove detrimental for the ailing animal.
There is no blood bank in Mumbai as there aren't proper blood collection, blood tying and blood storage facilities. Dog owners and animal welfare societies some manage to get donors for animals.
Dog owner Supriya Nair said, "There has to be a provision for animal blood banks. The fact that there isn't a blood bank is unnerving.
At least in a city as big as Mumbai where the number of pets is rising every day, there should be a state-of-the-art blood bank.
Each metropolitan should have one. With just blood transfusion as an option, and the time consuming process of matching that precedes it, I will go with the old adage, time is money."
Payal Wadhwa, who lost her four-and-a-half-year old beagle Gizmo to tick fever or canine babesiosis, believes that they are in urgent need of emergency services for animals.
"My dog was in dire need of medical attention when we admitted him but it took them almost 5 hours to match the blood sample of the donor to that of my dog.
Even after it was matched, it took another 12 hours to start the transfusion process. By this time, I was certain that my dog wouldn't make it.
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I have decided not to keep another pet because of the lack of services available for them. You cannot treat animals in such a callous way.
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If it wasn't for the lax attitude and inept services, my dog would have made it," she added.
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