Stray animals in distress will get ambulances to rush them to the nearest veterinary centre: the state is mulling an animal ambulance service before July.

State agriculture and animal husbandry minister Badal Patralekh said the proposal for the animal ambulance service has been made in the state budget to be tabled later this month.

“It was a call of my conscience to do something for the helpless stray animals who are found injured and even with festering wounds loitering in the streets after being discarded by their owners. I asked my department officials (animal husbandry unit) to do a study and we have decided to include the animal mobile medical ambulance service in the budget,” said the Congress MLA from Jarmundi.

The minister who was in Delhi on Tuesday said that in the first phase one such well-equipped ambulance will be deployed in each of the 24 districts.

“We are ready with the paper work and this project would not get stuck in the typical bureaucratic hurdles. As soon as the proposal is cleared in the budget we will complete the process to issue the tender and also procure the ambulances with all fittings and make it operational in the next three-four months. One ambulance will be deployed in each of the 24 districts and would be under the control of the respective district animal husbandry officer,” said Patralekh.

Sources in the state animal husbandry unit said the customised ambulance will be fitted with a hydraulic lift.

“We will also have a toll-free number, most probably 1962, for rushing the ambulance. A call centre might be set up in Ranchi. The ambulance will be equipped with ultrasound scan, oxygen cylinders, IV fluids and emergency surgical equipment and medicines required for treating animals. There are plans of posting a veterinary doctor in the ambulance. The hydraulic lift will help in lifting bovines and other large-sized animals and effortlessly pushing the animal into the cabin for transfer,” said a source in the animal husbandry department.

The veterinarian in the ambulance will treat the animal on the spot and depending on the severity of the ailment/injury, the animal will be shifted to dispensaries run by the animal husbandry department.

The ambulance will also have a “synchronisation programme to treat infertile animals and can also be pushed into service in case of outbreak of diseases,” said an official with the animal husbandry department.

The state-owned animal ambulance service was first started in India in Tamil Nadu in 2016.