Many people share a deep love and bond with their animal companions, and pets eventually begin to feel like a member of the family and it can be extremely painful and upsetting to lose a cherished animal. When a cherished dog, cat, or other pet passes away, it’s normal to experience overwhelming grief and sadness.
Similar incidents occurred in the case of Vadodara resident Garima Malvanker, who was devastated when her pet dog Pluto passed away suddenly last year. She was so devastated that she resolved never to love another animal again.
Garima visited the Sayajibaug zoo on Pluto’s birthday in an effort to honour her memories of him as well. She saw a leopard there and made the decision to adopt it.
“Pluto was born on June 24. I was very close to my labrador and it was more like a family member and we never kept it on leash. After Pluto died, I wanted to do something special in its memory. So, I decided to adopt an animal on Pluto’s birthday,” Garima told TOI. “I inquired about animal adoption at Sayajibaug zoo and finally zeroed in on a leopard. I plan to continue with the adoption for at least five years,” she added.
Sayajibaug zoo curator, Pratyush Patankar hailed the decusion and said that such adoption by citizens helps them and also creates awareness about the wild animals as well as birds.
“The funds go into the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) corpus. Currently, we have 16 donors who have adopted birds as well as animals. We issue a certificate of appreciation to the donors,” Patankar stated.