Simran Kaur Mehrok (24), a nursing student in Patiala and volunteer with Janhit Sewa Samiti, rescued the four pups.

HOURS AFTER she gave birth to four puppies in Khudda Sanaur village of Patiala last Saturday, a dog was beaten with sticks and bricks and dragged from a motorcycle for at least two kilometres till she died, after which her body was dumped in a pond.

After two eyewitnesses informed rescue group Janhit Sewa Samiti about the incident, her four newborn pups were rescued, but two of them died on Thursday.

An FIR was registered after an autopsy of the carcass. The report confirmed severe injuries to the skull and private parts of the animal. Four days on, Patiala Police are yet to make an arrest.

While the incident happened on Sunday morning, Patiala Police registered the FIR two days later (on Tuesday). The accused, a man identified as Manga Singh, and his mother, are absconding and their home is locked, they said.

Simran Kaur Mehrok (24), a nursing student in Patiala and volunteer with Janhit Sewa Samiti, who rescued the four pups and got the dog’s autopsy conducted after recovering her body from the pond Monday, said she received a call on Sunday evening from some local village youths who were initially “very scared to reveal anything” and just asked her to rescue four puppies as their mother had died.

“They saw a man thrashing the dog mercilessly with sticks and stones. She had just delivered four babies on July 4 and the next day at around 11 am, the man beat the dog till she fell unconscious and then dragged her after tying her to a motorbike. Those two youths tried to intervene and save her but the accused verbally abused them. The dog had already died by then,” said Mehrok.

“It was only after I insisted that they told me how the man killed the dog and threw her body in the pond,” added Mehrok.

On Monday morning, when Mehrok reached the village to rescue the puppies, the dog’s body was found floating in the pond. She then also went to the home of the accused. “His mother claimed that the dog bit her on the finger but there was no injury. There wasn’t even a scratch. When I asked her if she got injections as the dog bit her, she had no answer. Later villagers told us that the dog had just delivered but the accused and her mother were trying to disturb her, due to which she had just barked at them. When I questioned the woman about where the dog was, she said ‘Ohnu tu main chakwa ditta (I got it picked up)’. She also accepted that her son picked up the dog,” said Mehrok.

After the carcass was recovered, Mehrok claimed that she kept waiting at the spot for police to respond, but they did not come. “I had no option left but to write to Maneka Gandhi and seek help. She responded immediately and ordered the local administration to help us. It was only then that the body was taken for autopsy and FIR was registered on July 7,” said Mehrok, who took the dead dog’s four puppies to her home.

The FIR against Manga Singh and his mother was registered on complaint of Amit Bhanot, head of Janhit Sewa Samiti, under sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle or any other animal) of IPC and 11 (1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, at Sanaur police station.

Inspector Karamjit Singh, SHO, Sanaur police station, said raids were being conducted to trace the accused.

At her home, Mehrok is taking care of the dog’s surviving puppies. “They couldn’t be with their mother for even 24 hours after birth and did not get her milk. They hadn’t even opened their eyes properly before their mother was killed. We tried to bottle feed them and keep them warm but two of them died today. We are trying to find a lactating dog which can feed the remaining two now. There are no words to explain what that dog went through. Police are not making a serious effort to arrest the culprits,” she said.