Shortage of equipped clinics in Chennai lowers survival rate of dogs with fatal diseases

CHENNAI: It has been more than a week since media professional Karthik Dhandapani lost three of the six adopted strays that he was trying to get treated for canine distemper. And the most exhausting part of his experience was not so much the loss itself as the harrowing laxity that he believes led to it.

"The first suggestion veterinarians had for us was to put the animal to sleep. This was hard to stomach, especially since the dogs were active and playful," says Dhandapani.

The suggestion by veterinarians to put down a dog with distemper is natural, and in many ways merited. In case of distemper, which is incurable, the virus attacks the nervous system and result in muscle twitches, convulsions, seizures, paralysis and in many cases, death. Dogs that do survive have a permanent twitch or weakness in the legs.

But the city, home to one of the finest veterinary universities, fails when it comes to providing well-equipped quarantines and infectious disease units. These are essential infrastructural requirements to treat communicable diseases such as parvovirus and canine distemper. Except a few private veterinary hospitals and the government-run Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas), the city hardly has any options. "Quarantines are expensive to maintain and can cost up to a lakh a month," says animal activist Shravan Krishnan. "Shelters cannot afford the specialised treatment. They are already overloaded with scores of healthy abandoned dogs. Taking in a dog with parvo or distemper will not only put other animals at risk."

Expensive treatment and lack of infrastructure is also where most private practitioners' reluctance to treat these conditions comes from. Pets are mostly vaccinated, so it's the strays who end up with the disease. "Private practitioners suggest the animal be put down because they know that the animal's chances of survival are slim. Even the distemper antiserum, which is a recognised treatment option, is expensive, and has many doctors are divided about it," says city veterinarian Priyadarshini Govind.

A thriving testimony to what can be achieved with the right infrastructure and treatment is Sudha Narayanan's Charlie's Animal Rescue Centre, Bengaluru. With an exclusive distemper unit and quarantine, CARE develops its own antiserum from distemper survivors. Add to it nutritious foods and supplements, and there is a 60% survival rate in adult dogs and 40% in puppies.

"The only option is to build an independent facility to treat these diseases. The onus is on prevention. The main cause of contagion is a faulty ABC protocol followed by the corporation. Ideally, the animal must be first vaccinated, but the dog is first taken in for sterilisation and then vaccinated, by when it has contracted the disease," he adds.