Rinku Bharadwaj, a pet owner, has shifted her over 300 cats from her 3BHK flat in Marvel Bounty Cooperative Housing Society in Hadapsar to her new rehabilitation facility for rescued cats in Kharadi, officials said on Saturday.
This comes after the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Pune district, issued a notice to Bharadwaj on February 14, directing her to relocate her cats to an alternative site within 48 hours. The notice followed an inspection carried out on February 13 after receiving complaints from society residents. However, the pet owner requested the officials time till Friday to shift the cats.
SPCA Pune district officials, Hadapsar police officials, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) veterinary chief Dr Sarika Funde-Bhosale, PMC sanitary inspector and Marvel Bounty Society member visited Bharadwaj’s house on Friday to confirm if the cats were shifted. “We have done a panchanama after the cats were shifted. Bharadwaj has given an assurance in writing that she will strictly follow guidelines given by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and PMC. For us, the well-being of cats is the priority," said the PMC veterinary chief. "We have asked Bharadwaj to inform us of the exact location where the cats are shifted. We will visit the location to check if all the animals are in good health and pose no nuisance to citizens living in the vicinity,” she added.
Earlier on February 13, PMC officials, accompanied by a veterinarian and the city police, searched Bharadwaj's flat following a complaint and found over 300 cats kept in unhygienic conditions. The inquiry revealed that the cats were not vaccinated or sterilised, nor did the owners maintain any records in this connection. Some of the cats were pregnant, officials informed.
Reportedly, since 2022, the society residents raised multiple complaints to PMC claiming nuisance, stench and disease outbreak concerns due to the massive number of cats cramped up in the flat. PMC and SPCA visited Bharadwaj's home in 2022 and found over 60 cats of different breeds. However, there were no clear guidelines from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) or PMC on the number of pet animals to be kept in a house. Hence, the authorities did not take any action. Now, as the feline population in the flat increased drastically, the administration was forced to act on the complaints of the society's residents.
