Animal lovers caring for poisoned dogs in JP Nagar

Two men spiked food given to eight community dogs, including a pregnant one, on Sunday. Five have died, and three are battling for life

Eight dogs were allegedly poisoned at MS Ramaiah City Layout in JP Nagar on Sunday. Five have died and three, including a pregnant one, are critical and in hospital.

According to construction labourers in the area, two men came to feed the dogs around 11 pm on Sunday. The next day, the dogs were in distress. Animal lovers rushed the animals to hospital and filed a police complaint.

Dr Nagesh Reddy, senior veterinarian at Jeeva Pet Clinic, says, “The pregnant dog delivered seven puppies, and her condition is critical. It will take three days to know whether she will survive.”

Doctors aren’t sure what was fed to the dogs. “The food has been sent to a forensic lab in Hyderabad and we haven’t received any report yet. However, we are treating the dogs on the basis that it was rat poison or pesticide, as it usually is,” he says.

Manjari, a professional who lives in the area, is taking care of the puppies.

“It should ideally be the animal husbandry department taking care of them but here we are now. I haven’t slept in two days. I’ve been feeding them every two hours; it takes 15 minutes per puppy. By the time I am done with the last one, I have 15 minutes before I need to start the next cycle,” she told Metrolife.

Manjari has 11 other dogs at home and a five-year-old son to take care of. “I understand I am speaking from a place of privilege here. The place where they left poisonous food, there’s a slum a couple of metres away. Any child from there could have seen it and eaten the food. How inhuman can people be?” she says.

Animal activist Priya Chetty-Rajagopal says poisoning of dogs is not uncommon.

“I hope we have an Animal Husbandry Board to take care of cases like this. We need to find the criminals who have done this and punish them,” she says.

Priya recalls how an educated well-spoken woman said she wanted to poison the dogs on her street as she was scared they might hurt her granddaughter. “I was taken by shock. I realised there are plenty of people like her who don’t value the life of an animal and are just selfish. A suitable law for the safety of animals can make a difference,” she says.

The Puttenahalli police are checking CCTV footage to identify who poisoned the dogs. Meanwhile, the medical expense is being taken care of hospital and the goodwill of animal lovers.