Pune: When a veterinarian collaborated with fire department to save a baby squirrel's life

Pune is one of the worst-affected regions for COVID-19 pandemic. Saving the lives of humans is the priority for the authorities, but it's heartening to see citizens and authorities collaborating in a bid to commit to the care and well-being of animals. 

The residents in Sakal Nagar were in for a surprise on Friday when they saw a huge firetruck enter their premises. There was no fire; the department was, in fact, busy rescuing a squirrel from the 40-feet tree.

A squirrel that was under the supervision of veterinarian Dr Narendra Pardeshi went to the unreachable part of the tree in front of his vet clinic while he was trying to reunite with his mother. The squirrel was initially rescued from a dog in late May, and its life was saved.

Watch the video of the rescue operation

Dr Pardeshi recalled his experience saying, "The squirrel was just a month old. My wife and I rescued this baby (squirrel) from the mouth of a dog while it was about to feed on him. The squirrel suffered a major fracture, but we managed to save the life of this small creature." 

As a part of his routine when he tried to reunite squirrel with her mother, the baby squirrel went to the topmost part of the tree, almost the height of the fourth floor of the nearing building. After multiple futile attempts to rescue it, Dr Pardeshi called the fire department. 

Fire department sends the best hydraulic lift

The fire department considered the matter and deployed the best available hydraulic lift in the city for the rescue mission. Into the narrow lanes of Sakal Nagar, the rescue operation took around one hour and the little creature was into the safe hands of Dr Pardeshi. The key point of this entire rescue mission was not even a single branch of a tree was sloughed to manoeuvre the mammoth-sized hydraulic lift.

As squirrel is still under supervision, the dog from whom the squirrel was rescued is now being fostered by Dr Pardeshi.

The fire department officials who were hailed for their humanitarian efforts were quick to appreciate Dr Pardeshi for his love and affection for animals. 

"All life matters despite the size," said an official from the fire department.