Lockdown leaves dozens of pets trapped in Rawalpindi

Administration allows shopkeepers to momentarily open shutters to feed the animals

RAWALPINDI: With the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic forcing the government to restrict people to their homes in the garrison city, it has also taken a toll on hundreds of animals housed in the pet shops with many dying while others were on the verge of starvation.

However, the district administration later allowed them to open the stores for brief periods to feed the animals.

The Alam Khan Road in Rawalpindi, which once echoed with the sounds of chirping birds, barking dogs and purring cats, fell silent after the Punjab government imposed a general lockdown across the province in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.

The notification issued by the government directed all shops in the city to close, except those selling food and medicines. The pet shop owners on Alam Khan Road had little option but to comply and bear the loss of business like others.

The 40 shops on Alam Road house different species of birds, both local and imported, such as exotic parrots, pigeons, sparrows, roosters as well as cats and dogs, besides exotic fish are worried for the well-being of these creatures.

Owing to the lockdown, the caretakers have been unable to provide feed and water to these pets on time, due to which dozens of animals died of starvation and dehydration, multiplying the loss faced by the owners of these stores.



The shopkeepers said that at this point they were more concerned about saving the animals which are left alive rather than calculating what they have lost.

Those who have not been able to shift the housed animals to their villages or to open fields in the suburban areas before the lockdown finally came out in groups on Thursday to quench thirst and provide food to those caged behind the rolling shutters.

Many shopkeepers partially pulled the shutters of their shops up. Some went inside to feed the birds and animals while others stood to watch outside.

Police initially tried to pull the shutters down as the pet shops were not among those exempted during the partial-curfew, but later allowed them to open their shops with half-shutters up to feed their animals for a few minutes and leave.

Since then, the shopkeepers said they are a bit relieved as no more animals will die of hunger or thirst.

Iqbal and Fahad, who run pet shops on Alam Khan Road, told the Express Tribune that the district administration has allowed them to briefly open their shops to care for their animals and birds.

The store owners asserted that they would not have faced a massive loss if the district administration considered this aspect when imposing the lockdown.

However, Iqbal said that he felt comforted that from now on, it will not happen again.

“We are now opening our shops two times a day to feed the animals.

We are not doing any business, only feeding the ones which require food and water, just like us humans,” Fahad said.

He added that those who sell aquariums and fish do not face the same situation as them the fish can survive easily if they are fed even once in two days, provided the air-pumps and filters of aquarium keep running.

Fahad said that unlike fish, other pets require food and water at least twice a day. “We will now make sure they get it.”

However, the closure of the shops and opening for a brief period has also raised hygiene issues in the shops and their immediate surroundings.

The cages of animals could not be cleaned and it may cause the animals to fall sick.

As a result, the entire area has been engulfed in a putrid odour. The shopkeepers have demanded the administration to spray disinfectants in the shops daily during the pandemic. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2020.