When some employees of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) allegedly strewed poisoned food on the roadside in the Viman Nagar area with an intention to kill dogs, clearly violating relevant laws once again in January last, they may have not thought they would be arrested and were landing themselves in courts, this time. A resident of the area Diana Ratnagar who had the shock and agony of seeing her 5 dogs dropping dead one after another in quick succession as result of swallowing those bites, could suspect criminal mischief (allegedly repeated as a matter of course) and on examination, a registered veterinarian certified that the death had been “caused by poisoning.” Determined this time to get justice done for those innocent victims, she lodged a complaint with the Pune police and her unflinching determination took her nearly 6 months to get the police to act and eventually two workers of the PMC were arrested (and later released on bail) in July last on charges under Sections 34, 284 and 428 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sec. (Z4)X(1) of The Bombay Police Act (BPA).

While Sec. (Z4)X(1) of BPA states that “No stray dogs shall be killed as a rule…” IPC Sec. 428 covers mischief committed by killing, maiming etc. of animals, and Sec. 284 is concerned with negligent conduct with respect of poisonous substances. Perhaps Sec. 34 should be of special concern to the higher-ups in a local body. It provides for implicating also those who support, encourage and protect the person(s) actually committing a criminal act. That explains why the police have implicated the PMC itself in the criminal case.

It is also learnt that in March last, another Pune resident Meenal Jogdev who was on a walk with her two Labrador dogs on a leash has had the same shock of seeing her companions dropping dead after swallowing ‘something’ on the roadside. Identical has been the fate of Khurshid Chaudhuri’s 7 dogs, which fell dead on 22nd August last year. So is the story of several other dogs including those of Asha Doshi, Rakesh Jagtap, Deepti Dalvi, Pradeep Joshi and others of Pune.

Speaking to this scribe, Ratnagar, who seems equally concerned with the safety of humans, asks, what if a poor child swallows a piece of the strewed lot or what about those untargeted animals like cows and calves, and birds which might fall victims, and wonders whether the law of the land provides for killing healthy dogs. Describing the modus operandi, she says, “Some dogs do react in a threatening manner when teased or provoked. But, on this, when someone lodges a complaint with the PMC, the latter knowing very well that it is illegal to kill dogs, makes a pact with the former to strew poisoned food on the roadside and the result is that every time this is done, some 25 unsuspecting dogs fall dead. What’s more, the carcasses are almost immediately collected by the garbage collection squad, leaving no trace of evidence, with the PMC pleading complete innocence.”

As for other areas in the country, this scribe learns from the former film actress Amala Akkineni who runs the Blue Cross society at Hyderabad that the local municipality has stopped poisoning dogs, though other sources maintain that the local body still does it but denies doing so. But Amala adds that it happened 6 months ago in Vijayawada and Malkajgiri (also of Andhra Pradhesh). As for Karnataka, sources from Bangalore in anonymity contend that dogs have been poisoned in Kolar. According to sources including this scribe himself, stray dogs have been beaten to death or killed by injecting poison in Tamilnadu.

It seems likely that the practice is also in vogue in some other states like Kerala. But undoubtedly the latest instance from Pune has squarely caught the attention of law and that could perhaps be an eye-opener for administrators and authorities at various levels in the country.

Perhaps the local bodies in the country must take note; perhaps the state governments should instruct them to mind propriety, stipulated rules and procedures that have a bearing on such issues. As for an instance, Khurshid Chaudhuri points out that the Mumbai High Court in its “Comprehensive Guidelines for Dog Control and Management” has laid down that even stray dogs shall not be killed as a rule, making an exception only in the case of fatally injured, incurably ill, and rabid dogs (Sec. (Z4)X(1) of The BPA). Even the exception is made “with the sole object of relieving [the dog] of the pain of such sickness, injuries or rabies…” The honourable court has also laid down “Rules for capturing, sterilization [birth control], immunization [against rabies] and release of dogs.” (Note release, the court has insisted on the release of the dogs in the same area from where they were captured). After all, our constitution itself, by its Article 51A(g), enjoins upon us as a fundamental duty “…to have compassion for all living creatures,” she adds.