Pregnant cat dies from wrong treatment: Legal notice served on Animal Care doctors

A legal notice has been served against the owner and two doctors of Bangladesh Animal Care Centre (BSC), a pet treatment facility in the capital's Gulshan, over allegations of negligence and wrong treatment causing the death of a pregnant Persian cat.

The owner of the pet cat, Md Abibur Rahman, sent the legal notice through a lawyer by registered post on September 24. The victim owner's lawyer, Mohammad Zahidur Rahman, confirmed the matter on Saturday, September 26.

Those to whom the legal notice was sent are: Lavanaya, owner of Bangladesh Animal Care Centre (BSC), and the institution's doctors Dr Solaiman Hossain and Dr Md Jubayer.

In the legal notice, a request was made to take legal action within seven days against owner Lavanaya and the two doctors responsible for the death of the pregnant Persian cat due to negligence and wrong treatment. The notice stated that if action is not taken, legal action will be taken against all three recipients of the notice.

The complaint in the legal notice stated that the notice-giver's cat was born on May 1, 2020. Since birth, it has been treated at the Animal Care Centre (BSC).

On September 5 at 7pm, the notice-giver took the cat to BSC to have it examined for whether it was pregnant. There, Dr Solaiman Hossain examined the cat, administered rabies and flu vaccines and said, "The cat is pregnant, in the early stages. There are two or more kittens in the womb. The cat's health is good and it is suitable for pregnancy. So I have given an appetite-stimulating medicine."

The notice also stated that he then wrote a prescription.

On September 13 at noon, seeing the cat breathing rapidly, the notice-giver contacted BSC's WhatsApp number. Following the receptionist's instructions, he sent a message requesting emergency service with details. But as the institution did not make any contact until evening, he sent two videos and a voice message that evening at 7:15pm to explain the cat's condition.

Then Dr Jubayer said it was another problem and asked to bring it to emergency. Even after reaching at 11:30pm, Abibur was kept sitting at the reception for 15 minutes. Later, when Dr Shiropa gave the cat oxygen, its breathing improved. Then Dr Shiropa pushed an injection into the cat. Some time after the injection was pushed, when the cat stood up from lying down, Dr Jubayer took the cat away without oxygen.

Just four to five minutes after that, Dr Shiropa came running and said the cat was dying. Then the notice-giver went to Dr Jubayer and saw the cat dying. The notice stated that the cat died because Dr Jubayer started treatment earlier without keeping it under observation for half an hour after pushing the injection.