Two persons were on Saturday arrested for supplying dog meat as venison (deer meat) in the hotels under the the G. Konduru police limits in Krishna district.
On Friday, the villagers of Kodooru found two locals capturing a street dog, skinning it and packing the meat to supply to a few local hotels.
“The villagers and local panchayat officials informed us about the sale. We arrested the duo and seized the packets containing the dog meat,” G. Konduru Sub-Inspector D. Rajesh told The Hindu.
The two confessed to the police that they had earlier supplied the meat to the hotels at Mylavaram and surrounding mandal headquarters. According to them, the legs of the dog would be cut off before skinning. The cost of the meat is ₹300 per kg.
“The veterinarian has collected samples of the dog meat for medical tests. Some samples would also be sent to the Regional Forensic Laboratory,” Mr. Rajesh said. Cases under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 were registered against the accused.
In April 2016, the forest officials seized three kg venison from the locals in the western parts of the district including the Kondapalli Reserve Forest (KRF).
Spotted deer enter the forest blocks of Kondapalli, G. Konduru, A. Konduru and Adivi Nakkala from the KRF spread over 9,000 hectares.