Killing of stray dogs continues in Telangana village, case booked

HYDERABAD: In yet another incident of stray dog killings in Telangana, nearly 100 canines were allegedly "poisoned to death" in Jagtial district on Sunday, police said.

With the latest incident, the reported toll of stray dog touched 1,300, animal rights activists claimed.

An FIR was registered in connection with the fresh incident that allegedly occurred at Abbapur village of Gollapalli mandal, a police official said.

An animal welfare activist, A Goutham, in a complaint to police accused the Abbapur village Sarpanch, Upa Sarpanch, Panchayat Secretary and others of getting the stray dogs killed with poisonous injections. Based on the complaint, the case was registered against them, police said.

The complainant, working as Animal Cruelty Prevention Assistant with the Stray Animal Foundation of India (NGO) further said that after getting information over the killing of stray dogs, he along with other animal welfare activists visited the village and also the dump yard where they found the carcasses of the dogs in a pit.

Based on preliminary investigation, the official said some villagers stated that their cattle were bitten and injured by the stray dogs with "health issues" over the past two days.

Further investigation is underway, police added.

Several incidents of mass killings of stray dog were reported from different districts in Telangana in since December last year, taking the toll to 1,200, even as cases were registered against Sarpanchs, their husbands, Gram Panchayat Secretaries and others based on complaints lodged by animal welfare activists.

The killings are suspected to have been carried out by some elected representatives, including Sarpanchs, allegedly to fulfill promises made to villagers ahead of gram panchayat elections held in December last year, to address the stray dog menace.