Three arrested for killing stray dog

In an inhuman act of cruelty, a stray dog was beaten to death by three people in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar on Thursday.

According to the police, a post-mortem examination conducted on the dog has revealed that it was hit with a blunt object causing internal injury that led to its death.

An FIR has also been registered in the Mukherjee Nagar police station under IPC Sections 428 and 429 which deals with cruelty to animals.

“We have arrested one of the three people involved in the incident,” said Meenu Chaudhary, deputy commissioner of police, (northwest).

Animal activists have pointed out that cases of dog-killings in the city has been on the rise despite it being a punishable offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

An eye-witness who did not wish to be named alleged that the police were reluctant in registering a complaint stating that it was a stray animal.

“I was passing by on a bike when I saw a number of people hitting a dog. Some of them were minor, too. I tried to stop them but I couldn’t, and the dog died,” he said.

“I made a call to the police but they said a case could not be lodged. I then contacted some animal activists who helped me in taking up the matter,” he said.

Animal activists too have alleged that the police was reluctant in registering the case when the eyewitness approached them.

“The incident took place on February 24 in the evening. We got a call from the eyewitness saying that the police were not registering a case and he wanted our help,” said Abhinav Srihan, who runs a bird helpline called Faunapolice.

“We reached Mukherjee Nagar at 10pm only to have the police tell us that had it been a pet animal, they would have lodged a complaint. But as it was a stray dog, they couldn’t do much. We told them that it was a punishable offence and finally made them lodge an FIR. A number of residents find these stray dogs a nuisance and even resort to killing them at times,” added Srihan.

Several animal activists have condemned the incident. “It is a barbaric act and those who have committed it should be

put behind bars. Incidents like these keep taking place as people think they can get away with it easily. The government needs to enforce animal laws in a stricter manner,” said Gautam Barat, cofounder of Friendicoes. an animal rights NGO. In the past, there have been several incidents of dogs being poisoned or killed in the city.