Recently, while the human race was battling the Covid-19 pandemic and its variants, “man’s best friend” was falling prey to the deadly virus – Canine Distemper (CD). There had been a severe outbreak of CD in the city and it had claimed many lives, with surviving dogs suffering untold misery till death. The fact that the virus is not communicable to humans has made the government ignore Canine Distemper, which could be very well prevented with annual vaccination. The expensive vaccine, available for seven diseases costing upwards of Rs 800, is a bottleneck that prevents most pet owners from immunizing them.

As per a trustee of Animal Care Trust (ACT), the usual winter phenomenon that started last December lasted till March 2022. But shockingly there had been an outbreak in September 2022 affecting a vast population of dogs, even older ones which we thought were resistant,” indicating mutation. The ACT trustee said that the government should subsidize the vaccine so that dogs can be immunized. Another fallout is pet owners abandoning infected dogs on the streets to fend for themselves, according to her. Meanwhile, it is learnt that ACT shelter has seen more than 200 cases last year and 60 this year. Sadly, these numbers are much more on the streets among stray dogs who suffer a lot. ACT’s birth control programme has also been a casualty of this virus.