VIJAYAWADA: In a case of animal cruelty, around 40 stray dogs were poisoned to death allegedly by Ramavarappadu panchayat officials. The incident created a furore with members of Help for Animal Society (HAS) lodging a complaint with the Patamata police. Ramavarappadu Panchayat Executive Officer G Rama Mohan Rao said no instructions were given to the staff to kill stray dogs.
Speaking to TNIE, HAS member A Indira Kumari said that around 10:30 pm on Wednesday, panchayat employees equipped with heavy machinery reached the burial ground in Ramavarappadu. ‘’Initially, we thought they were carrying out a cleanliness drive on the burial ground premises. But, around 12:30 am, we found around 20 carcasses and injections in an autorickshaw parked in front of the burial ground. When questioned, the panchayat employees left the autorickshaw and fled the scene,’’ she said.
Indira Kumari said that the panchayat officials dug a huge pit in the burial ground to bury at least 150 dogs. In a similar incident, the panchayat staff parked another autorickshaw during midnight near Sai Model Village apartments in the locality in which around 20 carcasses were found.
Police file case after Maneka’s intervention
The HAS members A Nagamani and her son A Rakesh questioned the panchayat staff, who brutally killed the stray dogs roaming in the locality. The staff in a hurry left the auto-rickshaw and three carcasses near the apartments. Later, the staff took the autorickshaw when the HAS members were trying to contact the police and advocate,” she informed.
“Initially, the Patamata police refused to file a complaint against the Ramavarappadu panchayat staff. With no option left, we have approached the office of BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi and sent the evidence to her office. Later, her office staff inquired about the incident and asked the Patamata police to accept our complaint. Following her instructions, the police registered a case against the panchayat staff’,” Indira Kumari said.
She appealed to the government to take stern action against those responsible for the brutal killing of stray dogs and evolve necessary steps to prevent mass slaughtering of the dogs in the future.When contacted, Ramavarappadu Panchayat Executive Officer G Rama Mohan Rao told TNIE that though there were several complaints regarding the dog menace in the panchayat limits, no instructions were given to the staff to kill them. ‘’Upon receiving the information of finding stray dog carcasses near burial ground at Ramavarappadu, instructions were given to the staff in the morning to clear them immediately from the residential locality and bury them,” he said, adding that locals prevented the staff from clearing the carcasses.
Patamata Circle Inspector MV Durga Rao said that they had questioned Rama Mohan Rao about the incident. “During our investigation, Rao said that he sent his staffers to clear the carcasses and didn’t give any instructions to kill the stray dogs. A case under IPC section 428 and 429 (mischief by killing or maiming animals) was registered against the panchayat staff and further investigation is on.”
He further said that instructions were given to his staff to perform a postmortem on 20 stray dog carcasses found near Ramavarappadu burial ground.