Generations of Healing Touch

Dr Manmohan Sharma
Dr Kunal Dev Sharma
Born in a family with a vet grandfather and a bunch of pet animals around, which included a chimpanzee and a lion, Dr Kunal Dev Sharma always wanted to be a veterinarian, and was called lovingly called ‘Mogli’. Read more about unconditional love, care and healing.
Graduated in 2005 from Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar, Dr Kunal Dev Sharma wanted to work for horses as her was a horse rider. “Seeing my interest, my father connected me to Dr Sridhar in Hyderabad, who was admin officer at Hyderabad Race Course. There I came to know they were looking for some vets who were willing to join the World Endurance Championship in Malaysia. From there my travel to Australia and England for MRCVS.
A travelling vet
After qualifying MRCVS, Dr Kunal started working as a ‘locum’ across UK and Germany. “Locum is vet who works temporarily for someone else. My idea was to gear up with a backpack, travel anywhere I wish and make some money, especially on weekends. I worked as locum for four years, travelling all across Europe,” he narrates. It was when recession hit hard in Europe as well as many parts of the world including India between 2007 and 2011, his father called him to come back home. “My locum days were over then, but it was a great experience for me. In those four years, I came to know how veterinary hospitals and vets operate and behave at different levels,” says Dr Kunal.
From generation to generation
The hospital chain has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in the year 1952 by Dr SD Sharma. Dr Kunal Dev and Dr Bhanu Dev Sharma, third generation vets, have further enhanced the services and facilities offered at the hospitals. “We boast of our long lineage of medical profession in the family. My grandfather Dr SD Sharma was a vet, father Dr Manmohan Sharma a doctor and we are today third generation vets,” mentions Dr Kunal. Today, the chain of animal hospitals in Delhi operates in four centres located at East of Kailash, Greater Kailash, Pitampura and New Friends Colony.

Diagnostics & more
They offer the widest and most exhaustive range of diagnostics like blood gas testing, colour doppler ultrasound, echocardiography, multi slice CT scan and fluoroscopy. When it comes to surgical specialities, the hospitals break barriers with ophthalmic surgeries for cataract and cornea and lens replacements, minimally invasive procedures like laparoscopic surgeries and thoracoscopic surgeries, cardiothoracic surgeries, orthopaedic and spinal surgeries, vascular and avascular stent placements and minimally invasive osteosynthesis.
Areas of full expertise
The areas of expertise offered include cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, nephrology, ophthalmology, dermatology, endocrinology, exotic pet’s medicine, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, myotherapy and hydrotherapy. “We also perform haemodialysis for pets with kidney failure which is available in limited veterinary facilities in India. Moreover, our complete physiotherapy and rehabilitation unit is also first-of-its-kind facility in the country,” informs Dr Kunal, adding that the facility includes an underwater treadmill as well as other modalities like cold laser therapy and TENS therapy.
Indeed a dream centre
The latest endeavour is the launch of the main centre at East of Kailash, which boasts not only of the latest high tech equipment and most specialised and trained veterinary professionals, but also performs some of the most remarkable modern procedures in the world. “This centre was a dream of my father, grandfather and all of us—which means having different specialties and facilities under one roof. When I say different facilities, we have many ancillary setups as well, such as coffee cafe, pharmacy, pet shop… all operate 24×7. Ancillaries like cafe are designed to boost mood of pet parents who bring their sick furry kids,” mentions Dr Kunal. The idea is to provide a ‘one stop destination’ to pets and their pet parents.
He adds, “We don’t want to call ourselves a grooming centre or spa, because we are not. Instead, we call it part of dermatology as we have prescriptions for almost every bath we give and haircut which is needed. We maintain every bit of practice for health and hygiene of our patients which non-technical people could not do.”
Separate ward for everyone
The admission facilities are unparalleled. There is an isolated contagious disease ward to avoid spread of disease. At a time, the facility is able to accommodate eight patients with contagious disease, 12 patients in the CCU, 6 birds, 12 exotic pets, 16 cats and 28 dogs. Further, there are four operation theatres in total. “We have a different cat section, which is directly connected to ultrasound room, x-ray room, ECG room as we waste time when we need to rush in emergency cases,” mentions Dr Kunal.
“We are proud of having only pet cardiologist in the country— Dr Bhanu Dev. He successfully handles cardio problems, particularly among Indian cats (billies). Case studies show that these local cats in our country have the largest number of heart problem,” informs Dr Kunal Dev.
United they stand at ANIHEAL
“ANIHEAL is conceptualised as a new company where we club some of the top vets in the country together, such as Dr Lakshmi Srinivasan (Hyderabad), Dr Leena Dalal (Mumbai) and Dr Milind Hatekar (Pune). The idea is to work together for backhand services, other than medical activities. The joint venture takes care of everything such as centralised purchasing, taxation, legal, R&D, so on,” says Dr Kunal.
The joint venture is designed to empower vets as well. For example, vets who are qualified and capable to run their own clinics, but couldn’t do it so because of financial constrain, ANIHEAL is there by their side for help. Dr Kunal informs, “Even we help vets who need education abroad and diagnostics in rural areas. ANIHEAL is all about uplifting the works and professions of veterinarians.” They boast of 400 staff, among which 70 are vets and 16 vets are at the East of Kailash centre where 8-10 surgeries are conducted a day. The centre provides guest rooms for stay for those outstation pet parents accompanying their patients. On an average, 100 plus pets visit the centre every day in East Of Kailash.
Timeline of MAX VETS Hospitals
1952: Unveiled as Dr Sharma’s Veterinary Centre at Khanna Market, opposite Tis Hazari Court
1959: Another centre at Khanna Market
1964: Race Course
1972: Swami Nagar, Panchsheel Park
1980: Greater Kailash-I
1988: Pritam Pura
2014: New Friend’s Colony
2018: Aniheal group of hospitals
2019: East of Kailash
(*In 2008, the clinic changed its name to MAX VETS Hospitals and now it’s under the umbrella of Aniheal group of hospitals)