The duration of power cuts may have come down and the shortage of diesel eased marginally, but the stories of people — and now animals — suffering remain. Pet lovers, pet shop owners and veterinary doctors still have to fall back on generators, inverters and gas heaters to help ease the suffering of their pets, if not to ensure their survival.

Dr Vinay Gorhe, a veterinarian who runs the clinic Pet Medicare, says, “We perform surgeries in our clinic and a power cut in the middle of a surgery is like a disaster. Shadowless lamps, cauteries and sterilisers are key requirements for a surgery and all of these depend on electric supply. Should any of these instruments fail to function during an operation, it could cause serious implications on the animal being operated on.

“We fall back on generators and inverters to ensure uninterrupted power supply so that the operation theatre is well-lit and the apparatus is functioning properly. For the sterilisers, however, we are dependent on an LPG gas kit.”

A big casualty is fish in private aquariums. According to H A Naheed, dealer and owner of Aqua Fish Aquarium, “Only five to six species of fish, such as those belonging to the goldfish, shark and Moly families, can come to the surface and take fresh oxygen from there. Other species such as those of the Chiclid family, feng shui fish and flower horn fish cannot survive without oxygen for more than four hours,” he said.

“The fish die as the pump that circulates fresh water in the tank stops functioning during power cuts. The only option we are left with is to keep changing at least two inches of water in fish tanks every couple of hours,” he added.