A Gorai resident Rita Jain whose 12-year-old Labrador, Bruno, passed away a few weeks ago after a prolonged illness, had to spend hours to look for a place where she could give her beloved pet a decent cremation. Tired of not being able to find any, she was directed by her friends to a human crematorium, whose staff did it by charging her extra money.
Even as the number of pet owners and those who adopt strays has seen an increase in cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai, animal welfare activists allege that though municipal corporations charge high licensing fees for registering pets, they were least concerned when it came to providing basic amenities like a veterinary hospital or a crematorium.
Neha Shah, another pet owner from Andheri, who had to bury her pug at a farmhouse in Kihim this January, said: “Only BSPCA, Parel has an electric crematorium but it seems that it is always defunct. I also did not want to cremate him by burning wood as it causes pollution. A friend who knew how close I was to my dog ever since I had rescued him, helped me by getting it buried at his Kihim farmhouse.” She also questioned that while politicians were keen on providing parks for pets, they were silent on this issue.
Calling it a serious issue, Bandra-based veterinarian Dr Rina Dev said that some of the human crematoriums across Mumbai are known to help pet owners on humanitarian grounds by allowing them to cremate pets, but it’s done unofficially and owners end up paying more. “There is an urgent need to have animal crematoriums and that too at two or three locations in every city,” she said.
Alleging that be it Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) or Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), their attitude was completely lackadaisical when it came to animal welfare, Shakuntala Majumdar, president of Thane Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA), said: “Getting permission for electric crematorium is an extremely long and tedious process. Why should NGOs be setting it up and not the municipal corporations, who have budget as well as land. In fact, it’s the responsibility of both the state government as well as corporations and it should ideally be a part of Development Plans.”
