Man drags dog for 500 m on scooter

Vadodara: A resident of Macchipeeth was arrested for brutally thrashing a stray dog on Friday. Ejaz Sheikh, who is in his late 20s, was nabbed from his home after an animal rights activist called the police and filed a complaint late on Thursday night. The police said that Sheikh seem to be having a learning disability.

“On Thursday night, I got a call from some locals that an injured stray dog was lying near the Ward 8 office. I reached there and saw that the dog had grievous injuries on its head and other body parts. I rushed it to the hospital,” said Dayanand Trivedi, who works for animal welfare in the city.

“Later some locals told me that Sheikh had thrashed the dog. They said that the accused first tied the dog with a belt and kept hitting it with a rod. He then tied the dog to his two-wheeler and dragged it for half a kilometre from his home to ward 8 office and threw it there,” Trivedi told TOI. He added that the dog’s teeth are broken and it is in critical condition.

The police have booked Sheikh under the Animal Welfare Act. “The dog has been seen in the Machhipeeth area for years. Many locals feed the canine daily. No one knows why he assaulted the dog so badly but it was very cruel of Sheikh,” Trivedi said.