New Delhi, July 19 -- On a recent afternoon in Jacobpura, a nondescript, dusty neighbourhood in Gurugram's Sector 12 sweltering in the summer heat, a stranger walks into the crammed front office of the Bird Charity Hospital, run by the local Jain Mandir trust, holding a little grey pigeon covered in pustules. Dr Raj Kumar, the vet on duty, takes one look at the tremulous creature and diagnoses it with avian pox. The rescuer hands over his charge silently and leaves, assured that it will be well taken care of.

The next few minutes pass swiftly. The bird is taken into an anteroom, examined quickly, and administered with basic drugs. Then it is admitted for further treatment and observation. An attendant takes it to its cage, next to fellow...