25 June, 2025 – Chandigarh, India
Sehjeevi Trust held a press conference at Chandigarh Press Club on June 25, 2025, and brought to light the appalling conditions of animals and systemic mismanagement at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) located in Sector 38 West, Chandigarh, the only government-run veterinary shelter in the UT.
Injured and sick animals continue to starve, without medicine or treatment confined in unhygienic kennels, with the facility spending over 90% of the annual grant from Chandigarh administration on salaries, and a shockingly meagre 0.6% spent on medicines / hospital expenses for 200+ animals at the facility.
Sehjeevi’s Executive Director Nikki Latta raised the issue of the recent ill-planned shifting of animals from SPCA Sec 38 W to Raipur Kalan Animal Birth Control Centre (ABC), due to renovation at the former, which has not even started. She informed the media about severe shortage of water and the indefinite and cruel confinement in small kennels of animals, mainly dogs, at Raipur Kalan for over two months now.
An appeal was made for immediate relief measures for animals who have not walked freely for months, an official inquiry into hasty and ill-planned transition, investigation into the shocking expense allocation ongoing for years, and temporary suspension of SPCA operations until completion of renovation at Sector 38 given ongoing neglect and infliction of cruelty for multiple years despite critical interventions.
Notably, on the day following the press conference, the Hon’ble Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, Sh. Gulab Chand Kataria paid a surprise visit to SPCA in Sector 38 and stated his unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the condition of veterinary services at the facility.
News articles from The Indian Express, Times of India and Hindustan Times.
Sehjeevi Foundation 