Hyderabad: In another disturbing incident of animal cruelty, around 200 community dogs were allegedly killed in Telangana’s Kamareddy district, taking the total number of such deaths to nearly 500 in the past week, police officials said on Tuesday.
According to village sources, some elected representatives, including sarpanches, allegedly carried out the killings to fulfil promises made during the recent gram panchayat elections to address the stray dog menace. Police have registered a case against six individuals, including five village sarpanches, in connection with the incident.
Earlier, police in Hanamkonda district had booked nine people, including two women sarpanches and their husbands, for the alleged killing of nearly 300 community dogs in Shayampet and Arepally villages.
Sources said that ahead of the gram panchayat elections held in December last year, several candidates had assured villagers that they would tackle the problem of stray dogs and monkeys. These promises are now allegedly being “fulfilled” through illegal and cruel means.
Police officials said the carcasses of the dogs were buried on the outskirts of the villages. Veterinary teams later exhumed the bodies and conducted post-mortem examinations. Viscera samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory to ascertain the exact cause of death and identify the poison used.
Animal welfare activist Adulapuram Goutham, who filed a complaint at Machareddy police station on Monday, stated that nearly 200 community dogs were killed over the past two to three days in five villages of Palwancha mandal in Kamareddy district. He alleged that the killings were carried out at the behest of the sarpanches, who reportedly hired a person to administer poisonous injections.
Goutham said he personally visited Bhavanipet village, where he found dog carcasses dumped in the open, and later learned that similar acts had taken place in Palwancha, Faridpet, Wadi and Bandarameshwarapally villages.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Notices have been issued to the accused, and further investigation is underway.
Earlier this month, around 300 community dogs were allegedly poisoned to death over a three-day period beginning January 6 in Shayampet and Arepally villages of Hanamkonda district. In that case, police booked sarpanches, gram panchayat secretaries and two hired individuals.
