Nearly 300 stray dogs were found dead in a pit, allegedly killed by poisoning, in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district. According to animal rights activist Srilatha Challapalli, the animals were killed on July 24, and were dumped in a pit near a lake. She also alleged that the panchayat staff of Lingapalem were responsible for the incident. The police have registered a case in this regard and have launched an inquiry.
Srilatha Challapalli, who brought the incident to the police’s notice, said that while she was informed about it on July 29, the mass dog killing took place on July 24, allegedly by panchayat officials. “After receiving the information, I visited the spot and found many dog carcasses. They were in a semi-decomposed state. In my inquiry I found that the Lingapalem panchayat officials hired some animal killers and injected the dogs with poison and killed them,” she alleged.
Following this, Srilatha approached the Dharmajigudem police. Based on her complaint, the police have registered a case under the Prevention of Cruelty Act Section 11, clause L (mutilates any animal or kills any animal including stray dogs by using the method of strychnine injections in the heart or in any other unnecessarily cruel manner) and section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police have also undertaken a postmortem on the dogs to determine if they were indeed killed using poisonous substances.
“The activist alleges that these dogs were killed by the panchayat office. Based on the complaint, we have registered a case and also conducted an inquest. The investigation on the incident is underway, and we are yet to ascertain the facts,” Dharmajigudem Sub Inspector Ramesh told TNM.
Meanwhile, condemning the incident, BJP National Secretary and co-incharge of Andhra Pradesh unit Sunil Deodhar asked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to punish the guilty. “Animal Lovers & any sensible human should not let these barbaric killers go unpunished,” he tweeted, tagging the Chief Minister.
Shocking!
— Sunil Deodhar (@Sunil_Deodhar) August 2, 2021
As result of patronising evils, 300 innocent stray dogs were poisoned & dumped in pits in Lingapalem, Andra Pradesh#AnimalLovers & any sensible human should not let these barbaric killers go unpunished.
CM @ysjagan must bring out those guiltily to justice.@byadavbjp pic.twitter.com/9WnHU0XJIi