An act of barbarism seemed to have given the muncipal workers of Bommanahalli area a sense of heroism two mornings ago when this reporter spotted them brutally dragging a dog to its death on the road.

The dog, too weak to walk, seemed to have been beaten up by the workers and, bleeding profusely from an injury on its face was being dragged on the road with a rope around its neck. When questioned, the corporation workers, walking around with sickles in their hand, claimed that the dog was mad and was threatening residents in the layout.

Meanwhile, a garbage pick-up vehicle arrived and the workers inconsiderately flung the injured dog into the vehicle saying they would take it to the dumping yard and bury it. “Bury it alive or first kill it? Either ways, the method adopted is unlawful and unethical. A complaint has to be handled in an authorised way and has to be diverted to NGOs,” stated a member of an NGO who attempted to trace the vehicle.

The instructions to catch the dog was reportedly given to them by the Bommanahalli office and when contacted, M G Shivakumar (refusing to state his designation) at the office claimed they were acting on a complaint received by the helpline centre. The helpline, on the contrary, stated it hadn’t received any complaint about a ‘ferocious dog’ from HSR Layout in four days.

So what complaints are the authorities acting on? “We were told that a dog was refusing to get out of a house in a particular part of the layout. So I told the muncipal workers to only help chase the dog. I have no idea about their method of handling the situation. But I will verify with the workers and take necessary action,” says Shivakumar, who after a little prodding stated the vehicles sent to clear garbage are sometimes asked to attend to such complaints also.

But they have nothing on paper to verify their statement. Will the Health Department look set their own house in order before setting out to solve the problem of dogs?