His ex-creative head believes the death resulted from negligence; plans legal action again Dr Hitesh Swali who administered the last injection
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 22, 2018)

Zanjeer, the dog that served the police force for four years and was adopted by the team of The Kapil Sharma Show, featuring in several episodes, passed away last Thursday. The Labrador was nine and had been taken for treatment to an Andheri clinic where he was treated by Dr Hitesh Swali and given antibiotics. He was given an injection as part of the treatment after which he suffered seizures and was taken to another vet, Dr Chousalkar, in whose clinic he died.

Preeti Simoes, former creative head of The Kapil Sharma Show, who looked after Zanjeer, has accused Dr Swali of negligence and plans to initiate legal action against him. “This is not the first time this man has done this to a pet. There are many groups in Mumbai with whom I have been sharing my story who have told me that Dr Swali has killed their cats and dogs with wrong medication. When a dog dies on the table, there is no way you can get paperwork done unless you take him to the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA). There too doctors are not very supportive. Zanjeer lived like a hero and died like one. His death will not go unchallenged. Dr Swali will have to answer for it,” Preeti says.

She has reached out to other pet owners for support. “Zanjeer gave us so much happiness, every celebrity who shot with us and our crew will remember him,” she grieves.

Dr Swali told Mirror that Zanjeer came to him on Sunday afternoon with dog bites in multiple places. He had been bitten by a stray dog, he was told by the caretaker. “After cleaning the wounds with iodine, I administered an injection for post-bite therapy and gave him tablets. After an hour, the owner, Preeti Simoes, called and told me that her dog was completely vaccinated and I asked her to send a copy with her household help. The caretaker had left the dog loose and it had got into a fight,” he informs.

He admits to calling the dog for a follow-up on Tuesday when the caretaker told Zanjeer had been itchy and showed him a video of the dog scratching himself. “Upon inspection, I found he had fleas and showed them to the caretaker who admitted he roamed in the garden a lot and must have picked up the fleas from there. I told him to wash the dog and bring him back for anti-flea treatment,” he said, saying he sent the dog home.

An hour later, he got a call informing the dog was panting heavily, followed by another call from Neeti, Preeti’s sister, asking him why he had given Zanjeer an injection. “I’m innocent and have discussed the matter with Dr Chousalkar who thinks Zanjeer suffered a heat stroke and his platelet count was down to 50000. He believes Zanjeer’s death was caused by stress or acute poisoning which needs to be investigated,” says Dr Swali, adding that Zanjeer was already being treated by Preeti’s cousin Michelle who is also a vet before being brought to him.