Dog carcasses at ABC facility: Activists to move court

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Animal rights activists will approach the court seeking an investigation into the discovery of carcasses of dogs in the compound of the Animal Birth Control facility. With dogs released by the civic body ending up dead on the streets, the group has alleged massive corruption and ill-treatment of dogs and will also seek the court’s help in investigating the alleged corruption involved in the ABC programme. A complaint has been submitted to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to inquire into departmental corruption. 

The carcasses were found at the Vandithadam centre where the civic body’s ABC programme is being carried out. The buried pits were opened in the presence of the Kovalam police on  Wednesday. Despite the plea from the animal rights activists and community dog feeders to dig up the premises of the facility, the police have not registered an FIR. According to the police, the police cannot initiate action as it is not a cognizable offence. The doctors in charge of the ABC programme were summoned to the police station on Thursday. 

“It is not a cognizable case. We need to conduct a post-mortem to find out if the dogs were ill-treated or killed. The doctors have said that 10 per cent casualty occurs during the sterilisation process and the dogs which die are being buried in the compound. Only the magistrate can order the digging up of the site,” said Praiju G, Circle Inspector of Kovalam station. 

He said the carcasses of the dogs were found from two burial sites in the compound of the ABC facility on Wednesday. “The doctors have confessed that dogs caught for neutering were being kept in cramped cages and assured that steps were being taken to move them into better facilities,” he said. The ABC facility has been set up in the compound of the government Veterinary Centre, Thiruvallom. Earlier, the activists had filed a representation to the Mayor regarding the ill-treatment of dogs where impoverished dogs were being kept for months in cramped cages. 

The Mayor had ordered setting up of better facilities and limiting one dog per cage.  On Thursday night, one of the dogs that was released in an emaciated condition by the corporation ended up dead. Aparna Surendran, one of the animal rights activists, has said that sterilisation was being carried out on sick and emaciated dogs in the facility by the doctors which are in contravention to the ABC rules. “Surgery should be performed only on healthy dogs. Even puppies are being caught in the name of sterilisation, an attempt to loot the money,” she said. 

According to her, there are several freshly covered pits inside the facility.  “A reliable source has told us that the dogs caught in the name of sterilisation are being culled and they are being buried inside the compound. When we visited two days ago, there were 75 dogs. But now there are only 38 dogs in the facility. The dogs which were caught are being released without any surgical procedure now.

That itself is illegal. They are getting a sum of Rs 2,100 for one dog and the canines are being released without conducting ABC procedure,” she said. People for Animals, an NGO based in the city, has also filed a police complaint about the ill-treatment towards dogs caught for sterilisation. BJP, the main opposition in the Corporation, has announced that would raise the matter in the next council.  

‘Casualty occurs during surgery’
Health standing committee chairperson P Jameela Sreedharan said carcasses of the dogs are a result of the casualty that occurs during surgery. “During surgery, some end up dying due to health issues. Such dogs are buried.” in the compound itself. Dogs are not culled. We get complaints on a daily basis from the public regarding stray dogs and we are forced to catch them. The number of dogs keep increasing but we have limited facility and limited resources. The infrastructure will be enhanced soon,” said Jameela Sreedharan.