Hyderabad: Around 300 dog carcasses were found dumped in a pit in Jagtial district in the latest incident of alleged mass killing of stray dogs in Telangana, taking the total number of strays found dead in the state this month to nearly 900. The incident occurred in Pegadapally village, about 200 km from Hyderabad, on Thursday and was allegedly carried out on the orders of the village sarpanch, according to animal rights activists.
Based on a complaint filed by Preethi Mudavath of the Stray Animal Foundation of India, police registered an FIR against the sarpanch, the gram panchayat secretary and others under Section 325 read with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Section 11(1)(a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, which deals with the killing and poisoning of animals by multiple persons. Mudavath alleged that the bodies were later transported in tractors with the help of gram panchayat workers and buried in a pit about two kilometres from the village.
At least three incidents of mass killings of stray dogs have been reported in recent weeks from Kamareddy, Jagtial, Hanumakonda and Ranga Reddy districts. In several cases, FIRs were lodged against newly elected sarpanches and other local representatives who allegedly ordered the killings to fulfil poll promises. Around 300 dogs were reportedly killed through lethal injections in Hanumakonda, while about 200 carcasses were found in Kamareddy, 100 in Ranga Reddy and nearly 30 in Jagtial earlier.
“We have registered a case and begun the investigation,” a police officer at Pegadapally police station said.
