Mumbai has a large population of domestic animals, both pets as well as stray cats and dogs. But given that their access to affordable health care is limited and in some cases, non-existent, The Feline Foundation opened a low-cost Community Veterinary Clinic in Versova yesterday. The foundation, an animal welfare NGO committed to improving the conditions of thousands of ownerless cats that live on our city's streets, was established by cat lovers Mriidu Khosla, Charu Khosla and Jason Moss. The trio roped in Dr Hitesh Swali to start the clinic.

"A basic consultation in a simple veterinarian clinic costs R500. A lot of rescuers and feeders who want to help animals shy away because of these exorbitant costs. At our clinic, we charge between R150 and R200 for a basic treatment of cats and dogs, respectively" says Charu, chairperson of the foundation. She also runs the Cat Cafe Studio in Versova with Mriidu and Moss.