Saddened By Death of Pet Dog, Vadodara Girl Adopts Leopard in Sayajibaug Zoo

After losing her beloved pet dog to sickness, a girl in Gujarat's Vadodara decided to adopt a leopard in the city zoo. Read viral story.

Vadodara: Over time, pets gradually start to feel like a family member and many people share an intense love and bond with their animal companions. For them, pets hold a lot of emotional significance and losing a beloved animal can be quite painful and distressing. It’s quite natural to feel devastated by feelings of grief and sadness when a beloved dog, cat, or other pet dies.

Similar was the case of a Vadodara’s Garima Malvanker who was devastated when her pet dog Pluto died last year due to sudden illness. She was so heartbroken that he she decided to never share her love with another pet again. However, Garima also wanted to celebrate her memories with Pluto, and went to Sayajibaug zoo on his birthday. There she spotted a leopard and decided to adopt it.

“Pluto was born on June 24. I was very close to my labrador and it was more like a family member and we never kept it on leash. After Pluto died, I wanted to do something special in its memory. So, I decided to adopt an animal on Pluto’s birthday,” Garima told TOI. “I inquired about animal adoption at Sayajibaug zoo and finally zeroed in on a leopard. I plan to continue with the adoption for at least five years,” she added.

Sayajibaug zoo curator, Pratyush Patankar hailed the decusion and said that such adoption by citizens helps them and also creates awareness about the wild animals as well as birds.

“The funds go into the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) corpus. Currently, we have 16 donors who have adopted birds as well as animals. We issue a certificate of appreciation to the donors,” Patankar told TOI.