Telangana villages kill 500 stray dogs in a week to fulfil Panchayat poll promises
In another incident of stray dog killings, nearly 200 canines were allegedly killed in Telangana’s Kamareddy district, pushing the death toll to around 500 over the past week, police said on Tuesday. According to sources in the affected villages, some elected representatives, including sarpanches, allegedly orchestrated the killings to “fulfil promises made to villagers” during the recent gram panchayat elections to address the stray dog problem.
Police said a case has been registered against six people, including five village sarpanches, for their alleged role in the incident.
Viscera samples sent for forensic
Earlier, police in Hanamkonda district had registered cases against nine people, including two women sarpanches and their husbands, in connection with the alleged killing of around 300 stray dogs in the villages of Shayampet and Arepally.
“Ahead of the gram panchayat elections held in December last year, some candidates promised villagers they would tackle the stray dog and monkey menace. They are now allegedly ‘fulfilling’ those promises by killing stray dogs,” sources said.
Police said the carcasses were buried on the outskirts of the villages, following which veterinary teams exhumed the bodies and conducted post-mortem examinations.
Viscera samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory to ascertain the exact cause of death and identify the poison used, a senior police official told.
Notices have been issued to the accused, the police added.
Complaint filed
Animal welfare activist Adulapuram Goutham, in a complaint lodged at Machareddy police station on Monday, said he received information that nearly 200 stray dogs were killed over the past two to three days in five villages of Palwancha mandal in Kamareddy district.
He alleged the killings were carried out at the behest of the sarpanches of the five villages, who reportedly hired a person to administer poisonous injections.
Goutham said he visited Bhavanipet village, where he found dog carcasses dumped, and later learnt that similar acts of cruelty had taken place in Palwancha, Faridpet, Wadi and Bandarameshwarapally villages.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act against six persons, including the five sarpanches, a Kamareddy police official said.
300 stray dogs were poisoned to death
Earlier, around 300 stray dogs were allegedly poisoned to death over a three-day period starting January 6 in Shayampet and Arepally villages of Hanamkonda district. Police have registered a case against nine people, including sarpanches, gram panchayat secretaries, and two hired individuals, in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would consider issuing directions to states to provide “heavy compensation” to victims of dog-bite incidents and hold dog feeders accountable. The apex court expressed concern over the poor implementation of norms related to the management of stray animals over the past five years.
