Veterinary doctors, firm owner booked over dog’s death after surgery

BENGALURU: Three veterinary doctors and the proprietress of a firm which partners with BBMP in conducting animal birth control drives have landed in trouble after a pet dog they operated on died a week later in KR Puram.
Acting on a complaint lodged by Ravi Narayan, a representative of Action for Animal Justice, an NGO, Kadugodi police registered a criminal case against Aruna Reddy and doctors Darshan, Mahalingeshwar and Muniraju, all attached to Sushma Enterprises, KR Puram.
Police said the quartet has been booked under the provisions of Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and IPC sections 428 and 429 (both pertaining to killing or maiming of animals).
Complainant Narayan told TOI that the dog, Susane, owned by retired IAF employee Sushiraj, was taken to Sushma Enterprises on February 20, 2018 for birth control surgery. The dog returned on February 22 but stopped eating food later. The pet parent thought it was avoiding food due to pain and but soon it began vomiting and died on February 27. A postmortem was conducted at KR Puram veterinary hospital.
“The doctors failed to conduct the operation properly and the dog died due to their negligence,” Narayan said in his complaint, filed on the behalf of Sushiraj. “We are waiting for the complainant to provide some clarifications before starting the probe,” a Kadugodi police officer said.
Representatives of Action for Animal Justice and Sushiraj rushed to KR Puram police station to file a case on February 28, but they were referred to Kadugodi police station citing jurisdiction. “Initially, Kadugodi police declined to register a case but did so after consulting higher-ups,” Narayan said.
Aruna told TOI she was not aware about the FIR. “I got to know about the case only now. Usually, we keep dogs in our care for 24 hours after the surgery and hand them over to the owners asking them to ensure the canines don’t jump or strain themselves for a few days. We aren’t sure what happened to this dog,” Reddy said.