“How does it feel when the children in our homes are poisoned and killed?” asked Akshay Radhakrishnan in a social media post on the killing of his three dogs, on Sunday, October 30. Akshay, who runs the dog shelter Barkspace in Chalakudy, alleged in an emotional video that three dogs rescued by his shelter were poisoned to death by a neighbour. In another live video with his friend Sai who takes care of the dogs, the limp bodies of the dogs were seen lying in three different spots in the shelter.
Akshay, Sai Krishna, her partner Iblu alias Shameem and a few other friends have been running Barkspace for the past two years. Once a home to nearly 50 rescued and sheltered dogs, the place now houses only around 20 dogs. It was of these 20 that three were killed and two missing.
“Imba [one of the dead dogs] had had injuries for a long time after someone tried to kill her when she was a puppy. We rescued her and helped her recover enough to get around on her feet. Poopy and Rubie, the other two, were very friendly. None of them ever tried to harm anyone. We too, at Barkspace are doing this work without harming anyone. Why would anyone harm us this way,” asked Akshay.
He went on to say that they had been threatened for over a year by Johny - a relative of the house owner who rented the space to Sai. “He is a very rich and influential person. He has told me to my face that he would kill our dogs. My retaliation to his threat hurt his ego. This happened around a year ago, and ever since, he has been harassing us. But this time, he entered our shelter space and poisoned the dogs,” he alleged.
He further alleged that the act was a planned one committed when no one except Sai’s mother was present at home. “She is hearing impaired, but can hear the dogs barking. On seeing him enter the compound, the dogs started barking. Sai’s mother rushed outside, only to see Poopy run towards her and collapse at her feet,” he said. With the help of a friend who was nearby, she contacted Sai and Iblu. Upon their arrival, the two other dogs were also found dead.
The ordeal did not end there. Sai and Iblu approached the Puthukkad police station to file a complaint on Saturday night. “But no FIR was registered, nor post mortems conducted. The police asked us to arrive at a compromise,” Akshay told TNM, adding that the police had tasked them with getting the post mortems done and producing the reports. When TNM contacted the police, they refused to comment on the matter.
Left to Right: Ruby, Poopy, Imba
On Monday afternoon, the bodies of the three dogs were taken to the Veterinary Hospital, Mannuthy, for post mortem. The bodies had begun to decompose by then. “They refused to do so without a police order. Now we need to go back to the police to get the order,” Sai said.
In his first video, Akshay said that Barkspace rescued sick, abandoned dogs or pets that had met with accidents, as well as puppies. “What we do is helpful for all. There are people who love and don’t love animals. But why do this?” he asked. In another video, he wondered, “In our country, we depend on the law ultimately. If the law is not helping us, what can we do? If people can do anything, how can we live in this country?”
Akshay further elaborated on their situation in his post, “The property that we have rented for the shelter is not near a residential area. None of our dogs are aggressive towards people or other animals. We have never caused any problem in the neighbourhood. One of the locals living 500 m away from the house has been constantly threatening to poison our dogs and cut off their heads. But we never expected such a thing to happen as our dogs never create any problem. Today, he poisoned and killed three of our dogs named Poopy, Imba and Ruby when we had stepped outside for some emergencies. Even my best friend Poombatta has been missing for two weeks. I'm helpless now as I'm far away from my place. We are moving against this legally and hope that justice will prevail. We will try our best to give him what he deserves.”
“We filed a complaint at Puthukkad in Thrissur, Kerala, yesterday night, with the hope that we will get justice. But the sad reality is that the police haven't even registered a case as the culprit wields great influence. The locals are afraid to speak against him. The police are saying that we can't do anything beyond a Rs 50 fine. The other option is to arrive at a compromise with him and ignore this matter. They didn't even help us with the post mortem procedures. It is really heartbreaking to still keep the dead bodies with us. If anyone has any close contact with higher authorities in the police department, kindly help us. That will mean a lot to us. We cannot fight alone. Thanks for all the mental and legal support,” he appealed in another post.