Animal activists accuse civic body of distressing them

Pune: Activists have accused the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) of distressing animal lovers trying to manage stray dogs in the city.
Pune-based Padmini Stump and cancer specialist Ravindra Kasbekar, who rescue and foster animals at Mission Possible, alleged that personnel from the civic body’s building permission and health departments “raided” the former’s bungalow on Shankar Sheth road on Wednesday.
They claimed that the authorities had meant to take away the rescued dogs undergoing treatment there.
Stump and Kasbekar have been taking care of and treating hundreds of injured and tortured street dogs in Pune at their Mission Possible shelter in Saswad. “But as there’s not much space there, I have around 50 injured dogs at my bungalow. On Wednesday, the civic officials came with an entire demolition squad to bring down the steel sheds used to house the injured animals,” she said.
Both Stump and Kasbekar said neighbours in the area had been lodging complaints with the PMC to get the dogs removed . “If the PMC had a solution, say a shelter, to take care of sick and injured animals , all this could have been avoided. In fact, we are helping the PMC because nearly 400 dogs are off the streets now as we home, feed, medicate, and vaccinate those. We also sterilising the and ensure their adoption,” Stump said.
Kasbekar said, “We have sought time from the civic authorities and they have agreed to it. They can also see we are doing whatever possible for these street animals.”
Ajit Naiknavare, an building permission department official, said, “We had received complaints from Stump’s neighbours. The health department as well as the building permission department personnel had visited the animal lover’s bungalow to remove the illegal sheds used to house the sick animals. We have given them six months’ time to remove those.”
The PMC has been discussing a proposal on the stray dog shelter in Pune at its general body meetings since 2008. The proposed shelter still remains on paper.