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A man allegedly abandoned his eight-year-old son and 26 dogs at his rented home, prompting a police search to trace his whereabouts and an animal rescue operation in Tripunithura, a municipality in Ernakulam district of Kerala.
Sudheesh S Kumar disappeared from his residence on Sunday, August 24, leaving behind his young son and the dogs allegedly without food or care. The incident became known when the distressed child contacted his mother, who works abroad, after his father failed to return home.
Police launched a search for the missing man after the mother alerted authorities. The child has been safely placed with his maternal grandparents, while the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) rescued the abandoned dogs, who were reportedly left to starve.
Sudeesh, who had been living in the rented house for the past few months with his son, brought several dogs, often of high breed, to the house. The neighbours complained to the municipality that the man had been bringing dogs and was running an illegal dog breeding centre.
The municipality had issued a notice to Sudheesh on August 7, warning him about the legal consequences of illegally keeping and selling dogs and asked him to shift the dogs immediately. Sudheesh allegedly fled the house as the deadline to return the dogs had lapsed.
The district secretary of the SPCA told On Manorama that three dogs who were heavily pregnant had to be rushed to the hospital. The association is planning to file a complaint against Sudheesh for abandoning dogs. The police are yet to register a case against the man and have asked his brother to produce him.