Derby mayor honors Valley veterinarian for service to community

Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto, center, presents a plaque to Dr. Tara C. Nanavati at City Hall. His wife, Dwarka Nanavati, is at right. Nanavati recently was honored for his 35 years of service to the community./Contributed photo 

DERBY - The City of Derby recently congratulated Dr. Tara C. Nanavati for providing more than 35 years of service to the Valley community and its animals in need.  
Mayor Anita Dugatto presented a plaque to Nanavati, who also received similar awards from the Seymour and Oxford Boards of Selectmen last year.

Nanavati, who operates a veterinarian hospital in a building on the Ansonia-Seymour line, is credited with many pet and wild animal rescues throughout his years of service. 

He has helped many of the region's animal shelters and animal control officers, run rabies clinics with proceeds donated to charitable causes, including St. Michael’s Church in Derby, the Methodist Church in Seymour after a devastating fire, the Woodbridge Dog Pound, and the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center. 

During the past five years, Nanavati has taken on charitable work that extends well beyond the region. 

In 2010, he collected 3,000 pounds of medical supplies, clothing, bedsheets, shoes, and toiletries for the survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. 
In 2011, he followed up with a collection for the Japan Tsunami victims, and he helped with settlement of Nepalese refugees in the region. 

In late August 2013, he completed another clothing and personal item collection to benefit survivors of the Oklahoma tornadoes that killed 23 people and injured nearly 400 in May of that year. 

Nanavati has operated his practice since 1988 at 876 South Main St. in Seymour. 

An Orange resident, he is joined at his practice these days by his wife, Dwarka Nanavati, and by Becky Mahon, a veterinary assistant who has been a staple at the animal hospital for more than eight years. 

Mahon said there are numerous adult cats and kittens available for adoption; call 203-735-9915 for more information. 

  

When asked what he plans to do, now that he has completed 35 years of service, Nanavati said he will try to make it to 40 years, since there is always an animal, and a community, in need.    

This is a press release from Nanavati's office.