Mumbai News: Criminal Complaint Filed Against Kandivali Society For Dumping 20 Dogs, Including Puppies, In Aarey Forest; Watch
Police have filed a criminal complaint against a Kandivali (East) housing society for allegedly dumping 20 stray dogs, including six puppies, deep inside the Aarey forest on Sunday afternoon.
Animal rights activists who reached Aarey on Tuesday night after seeing a video of a mini truck dropping the animals in the forest, rescued one of the dogs. They went back to the area on Wednesday morning to locate the other animals. The activists said their main concerns are that the dogs could starve in the unfamiliar area or be killed by leopards at night.
Statement Of The President Of Animal Rights Group, People For Animals
Vijay Rangare, president of animal rights group, People For Animals, and honorary animal welfare officer, said that the police have registered an FIR against four people, including the treasurer and two committee members of Samarth Nagar Cooperative Housing Society (SRA) under section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act for abandoning an animal in cruel conditions. However, PFA said they have asked the police to add charges under section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, which prosecutes the accused for maiming animals or rendering them useless. "Aarey has free-roaming leopards. If you abandon an animal in the forest, the intention is clearly to get them killed," said Rangare.
Statement Of An Animal Rights Activist
Reshma Shelatkar, an animal rights activist who reached the forest on Tuesday evening, said that she suspects that stray animals and pets are regularly abandoned in the area. "I feed stray dogs whenever I visit the area. I see new dogs and they seem to vanish the next time I go there; they are probably picked up by leopards," said Shelatkar.
An official from the Samta Nagar police station said they are investigating the case. The dog rescued last night has been sent to a foster home.
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