Locals suspect miscreants ofpoisoning five stray dogs to death

Mysuru: Close on the heels of two horrific incidents of cruelty against animals – one in Kerala where an elephant died after eating a fruit filled with firecrackers, and a pregnant cow in Himachal Pradesh was fed firecrackers stowed in flour – five stray dogs in Mysuru allegedly died of poisoning. The dogs were found on a vacant Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) plot in TK Layout in Mysuru city, not very far from former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s residence.
The residents, who noticed the carcass of the dead dogs, alerted the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), who rushed to the spot. The dead animals were subsequently moved to a rehabilitation centre run by an NGO, People For Animals (PFA) in Dattagalli. Members of PFA collected samples from the dogs, and are conducting tests to ascertain the exact cause of death of the dogs.
Assistant director of the department of animal husbandry VO Thirumala Gowda told TOI that the death of the stray dogs had occurred over the course of three days. “On the first day, two stray dogs were killed, while on Wednesday and Thursday, one and two dogs were respectively killed. Going by the information we have collected from the residents, and primary analysis of the condition of the dogs, we suspect that miscreants removed petrol from bikes, and used it to poison the animals,” Gowda said.
It is likely that the miscreants laced bread or another food item with the poison in order to lure the dogs, he said. “We have filed a complaint with police,” Gowda added.
Since the vacant site was in the jurisdiction of two local police stations in Mysuru city, cops from both the centres have stepped up patrolling in the locality. Area corporator J Gopi told TOI that cops had brought the incident to his notice. “I will soon visit the spot along with MCC officials, and members of the Abhaya team. All efforts will be made to find the miscreants,” Gopi said.
Meanwhile, police have sought all relevant details, including photographs of the carcasses being lifted from the vacant site in order to file an FIR in connection with the incident.