Justice Raja Shahid Mahmood of Lahore High Court (LHC) earlier yesterday summoned the Nawab Town (Lahore) SHO for July 16 on a petition seeking registration of a case against a veterinary doctor for the death of a pet cat.
At the last hearing, Justice James Joseph had sought a written reply from the SHO. However, he did not submit a reply. Owing to Justice Joseph’s inclusion in the LHC Rawalpindi bench yesterday, the case was fixed before Justice Mahmood.
Dr Atia Masood, an assistant professor at the Punjab University, had filed the petition. “I used to take my (male) cat to Dr Awais Anees. He was paid Rs6,000 for each checkup. On January 18, 2015, my cat fell sick and I called Anees. He demanded Rs25,000 this time to treat the cat. I paid him Rs10,000 and requested him not to insist on more. Because of this, Anees got annoyed and administered five injections and a drip to the cat which caused its death. Afterwards, Anees ran away,” the petitioner said.
Her counsel, Advocate Abdul Rasheed, told the court that Anees had deliberately killed the cat.
“My client filed an application with Nawab Town police for registration of a case against Anees. However, the SHO refused to entertain it,” he said.
He said that she had then approached the court of a justice of peace. However, the justice of peace had dismissed the application.
He said that it was a doctor’s duty to give proper treatment to his patients. “If he fails to provide proper treatment, his licence should be cancelled.
