Indian Express 19.04.2010
After Pimpri, city too to get a pet cemetery
Anuradha Mascarenhas Tags : corporation, animlas, dogs Posted: Monday , Apr 19, 2010 at 0413 hrs
Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has finally set the ball rolling for a cemetery for pet animals at Keshavnagar in Mundhwa. The proposal is awaiting clearance of the standing committee.Dr DB Pardeshi, assistant health officer, PMC, said plans were in place for a pet cemetery on a 1,000-sq ft land. “Steps are being taken to install an incinerator.”
Pet lovers, meanwhile, welcomed the development. “It has been a long-pending demand; finally it will see the light of the day,” said Vijay Paranjape, chairman of the Blue Cross Society.
Several pet owners have had to bury their pets in their compounds or just trash the bodies owing to lack of such facilities. “It was traumatic. How could I dump my beloved Pomeranian in the dog van so that they could send it with the trash to Urali-Devachi garbage depot. I stay in a cooperative housing society and there was no way that the committee would allow me to bury my dog,” recalls one of them. She had to finally bury the dog by the riverside.
According to animal lovers, the proposal had been gathering dust for a few years now. Harsha Shah, one of them, had written to the PMC earlier this year seeking immediate steps to utilise funds kept aside for such a facility. She had also pointed out that the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation had already set up a pet cemetery on a 20-guntha plot.
Pardeshi said he would soon call a meeting of animal lovers to discuss the demand for a dog census in the city.
