CUPA recounts battle with illegal breeder

He had put 25 dogs with a carcass on a filthy terrace in Puttenahalli

Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) Bengaluru has just been awarded custody of 10 dogs rescued from an illegal breeder in Puttenahalli in September last year.

The plight of the dogs came to light when a friend of the breeder shot a video of them. “It was a Saturday night when the video went out to rescue centres and animal welfare officer Harish K B,” says Sanjana Mandappa of CUPA. The video, showing 25 dogs left on a filthy terrace, had by then gone viral on social media. Among the visuals was a Husky with stab wounds on its face and a dead Shitzu decomposing on the terrace.

“Only five of the 25 dogs, in immediate danger, were allowed to be taken away that night. The procedure calls for an FIR to be filed, after which the police are given custody of the dogs, who then hand it over to an NGO,” says Alwyn Sebastian, CUPA’s legal counsel who fought the case.

The police were prodded into action by a social media campaign. When they returned a second time to pick up the rest of the dogs, only five were around. “The breeder had managed to remove the other 15 from the location,” says Sanjana.

The magistrate, before whom an application for interim custody was filed, handed the dogs over to the breeder. “He said proper procedure wasn’t followed,” says Sebastian.

As a lawyer, this was his first time in a rescue, and he says the ruling emotionally drained him.

The team then moved the High Court, which gave CUPA interim custody. The court later said the NGO could retain custody till the case was settled.

“The dogs are now happy and healthy. We were allowed to sterilise them on medical grounds, which means they will be protected from being used for breeding in the future,” says Sanjana.

The animal rescue community says the court ruling gives it hope and confidence, especially when they have to take on illegal breeders with clout.

“When I was arguing the case, there was no precedent. In the future, when such cases come up, NGOs and rescue centres will be able to retain custody of the animals till the conclusion of the trial,” says Sebastian. The battle is still not over. If the breeder is acquitted, the dogs will return to him. If he is convicted, they stay with the NGO.

Legal aspects of breeding

Breeding is not illegal but must be done with a licence and registration. Many don’t obtain a licence as they don’t have the infrastructure. The subject falls under the ambit of the State Animal Welfare Board. Some breeders, with no licences, are ethical and conduct breeding in hygienic conditions. The problem is when they are motivated only by profit. “Holding dogs in poor conditions, without access to proper veterinary care, goes against the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960,” says CUPA’s lawyer Alwyn Sebastian.