The controversy surrounding the alleged death of a dog does not seem to settle down at Amrapali Village in Indirapuram. Following the FIR lodged against a resident of the society and RWA’s president, over 200 residents assembled at the Indirapuram police station on Tuesday to demand dropping of charges against them.
A resident claimed that the charges of beating a stray dog to death was wrong. The FIR was lodged by People For Animals (PFA) after the complaints of beating a dog ferociously during the attempt to catch it.
On Sunday, the residents and few dog lovers had heated arguments over calling a private dog vehicle to catch stray dogs from the society. The vehicle managed to catch three dogs but in the meantime, volunteers from PFA came and rescued all the dogs.
Meanwhile, as per their claims, PFA people spotted an injured dog lying on the side of the road. They brought the injured dog for the treatment but the dog succumbed to the injuries. PFA had claimed that the dogs were brutally beaten in order to catch them, which RWA and majority of residents had refused. However, they accepted that they called a van to catch the dogs.
“I was present at the scene and saw no dog being beaten up," Mohit, a resident told City Spidey.
Speaking on their counter allegation of filing fake FIR, Sumedha Iyer, president of PFA said that proofs have been submitted to police and the investigation will reveal the truth. “Justice will prevail,” she commented.
As per residents, the move, to call private dog vehicle to catch stray dogs, was taken out of frustration as there were many incidents of dogs attacking the residents. “I am a pet owner, I love dogs but strays had become nuisance for the residents. Last week, a stray bit hand of my daughter when she was downstairs,” said Sonu Malhotra, a resident of the society.
Meanwhile, Iyer said that if a dog has become ferocious, it is job of a designated agency to take care of the situation. Residents should have called PFA rather than taking law in their hands.
Speaking on the matter, Maheshwaran Nair, secretary of the society's RWA told City Spidey that they are pacifying the aggrieved residents of our society. “We have full faith in police administration and Indian judiciary. Truth will come out,” he said.
When asked why PFA was not called to remove dogs from the society, Nair said that RWA was not informed prior to calling the private vehicle. “We came to know only after we received information from PFA that some pet lover has complained to them about the incident,” he said.
As per Supreme Court's ruling in 2016, it is illegal to relocate stray dogs from their territory. As per guidelines of Animal Welfare Board of India, if a stray dog has turned ferocious and becomes a threat, it is job of the Municipal Corporation or designated agency to remove the dog from that area.
PFA was designated by Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) to look after the stray dogs in Ghaziabad.
