10 dogs poisoned to death in Manipal

In an inhuman act, 10 dogs have been allegedly poisoned to death in Manipal on Saturday night.

The incident came to light only on Tuesday when an animal activist from Udupi sent a video of the dead bodies of eight dogs lying on the floor in front of a residential flat located on the road leading to the DC’s office near Manipal.

In the video footage recorded apparently by the students, one dog is seen battling for life with breathing problem and its mouth being unusually wide open while the carcasses of other dogs were found some metres away. A cooked fish is also seen, which the activists claimed it could have been laced with poison.

Dr Sarvotham Udupa, deputy director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department, said that action will be taken under the provision of Prevention of Cruelty against Animal Act based on the post mortem report from the police. The inhuman act has to be punished, he
said.

Babita Madhwaraj, founder trustee, Madhwaraj Animal Care Trust (MACT), Malpe, demanded a thorough investigation and alleged that the people who came in bike fed them fishes which contained poison.

She said that if people had complaints about the increasing number of stray dogs, they should have demanded animal birth control instead of poisoning them, she rued.

She has lodged a complaint at Manipal police station and an FIR was registered under Prevention of Cruelty against Animal Act and Section 428 and 429 of IPC against unidentified persons.

“Considering that the evidence is crucial for conviction in such cases, we will urge the authorities to collect the carcasses and send them for a test,” she said.