Casey Monteiro
A dream pet project that became a start-up! Born and brought up in Mumbai, Dr Yuvraj R Kaginkar, worked for over 25 years in the metro city, collaborating with giant corporates and on government projects as a veterinarian consultant, before heading to Goa where he, along with his wife, Dr Madhurita Gupta, co-founded 'My Pet OPD- Clinic-on-Wheels', which offers ambulance service to pet owners as well as attends to emergencies of pets at night.
My Pet OPD, which until now, was only a platform offering online consultancy services has ventured into on-field services. Seeing the need for this facility, ‘My Pet OPD - Clinic on Wheels’ is already getting good reviews. It has been recognised by Start-Up India and is supported by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Collaborating with Glam Petz, this ambulance service has already started receiving calls and is being attended to even before its formal inauguration – which will take place later this month.
WHY PET SERVICES?
Highlighting a pet peeve faced by many pet owners in Goa, Dr Yuvraj says, "I belong to Goa. I worked in Mumbai for more than 25 years. After Covid, I was in Goa and decided to stay back. During this time, I noticed that the biggest problem faced by pet owners is taking their pet to the vet.”
“That's a huge hassle because of transportation. Those who do have transport face issues in case their vehicle is given for servicing or has broken down. In such an event, pet owners are unable to give proper treatment, in time, to their pets,” he explains.
MORE AMBULANCES
Dr Yuvraj, who had helped set up an ambulance for wildlife, which was sponsored by noted industrialist and philanthropist, Ratan Tata, and is presently at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Maharastra, says that so far, the calls are already coming in for emergencies.
"The problem we face is that we have one ambulance, and we get calls from far off places. And, while we attend to it, another call comes from a place which is far from where we happen to be at that moment," says Dr Yuvraj.
‘My Pet OPD - Clinic on Wheels’ is manned by a vet and an assistant. "We will add two more ambulances soon and we are looking at investors, some of who we are already in talks with," sounds a hopeful Dr Yuvraj adding, "Once this concept is flagged off in Goa, it can be replicated all over India."
For more information on 'My Pet OPD – Clinic on Wheels' or night emergencies of pets (24x7 pet ambulance), contact Dr Yuvraj Kaginkar on +91 98335 22077
WEB: https://www.mypetopd.com
APP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mypetopd.patient
