Non-teaching staff at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras staged a protest on the campus on Tuesday against an official inspection of the dog park.
The institute has created an enclosure to hold stray dogs to protect the deer population on the campus.
A team, including representatives of the People for Cattle in India (PFCI) and officials from the Animal Husbandry Department and Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, had visited the institute to inspect the animals. However, when the team arrived, they were confronted by a group of persons that said that the inspections were stressing out the dogs and demanded that the team leave the campus. “The inspection began around 10 a.m. and went on till a little after 1 p.m.,” said Shruti Vinodhraj, one of the team members. The team had visited the campus on Monday, but had to leave due to rain.
The staff had met the team and wanted to make a representation. On Tuesday, the staff were present at the gate, and followed the team to the enclosure.
Arun Prasanna, PFCI, said currently, only around 60 dogs were in the enclosure while there were 188 at the time of the park’s inception.
Ms. Vinodhraj said the institute had claimed that 34 dogs had been given for adoption, but it did not provide the documents to substantiate the claim.
As more protesters gathered during the inspection, Ms. Vinodhraj called the Mylapore police for protection.
An official from the Animal Husbandry Department, however, said she had inspected the animals and found them to be healthy.