New Delhi: Former Union minister Maneka Gandhi has announced to shut down the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC) in Delhi from August 1 for a complete overhaul. The decision has come in the backdrop of a viral video of a para vet of the centre assaulting a dog after it bit him.
The video showed a dog was brutally beaten up after it bit one of the caretakers. Due to major injuries, the dog later succumbed.
Taking a note of the incident, Maneka Gandhi took the responsibility. Though the video did not claim that the incident took place in her centre, Gandhi admitted that the video was indeed from her centre.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Maneka Gandhi expressed grief and said that she is shocked to the core.
"Recently a dog was brought in for rescue to Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Center (SGACC) in New Delhi. Over the last one year SGACC has been short staffed due to Covid-19 and and the two newly hired para-vets were providing support. The rescue took a regrettable turn when the dog — naturally agitated as she was in extreme pain — bit the para-vet, who in turn retaliated with frightful violence. The dog died from her injuries," Maneka Gandhi wrote.
"The incident has shocked us all to the core -- I have been personally seething with rage and have been sick to my stomach since I watched the horrifying video. We immediately filed an FIR against the para-vets and they have been arrested. The doctor in-charge of the section has been given a notice to leave. But this is not enough," Gandhi said.
She further ensured to rebuild this institution with better hospital management and staff provided with animal-sensitivity training.
The Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre in Delhi was founded in 1980 and is considered as India's oldest and Delhi's largest all-animal centre. As described on its website, the centre was founded from a legacy bequeathed by Mrs Ruth Cowell of New South Wales, Australia to Sanjay Gandhi.