Brutalities against dogs continue to rise in city

Nagpur: Beating their heads with iron rods, smashing it with heavy objects, brutally pulling out their eyes or cutting off their tails. Horrifying acts of abuse on dogs are rising like never before in the city.
While animal activists had recently reported a 30-40% rise in animal cruelty cases, the brutality seems to be only getting worse in the absence of strict punishment. In recent weeks, activists have come across a similar pattern of harming stray dogs – head injuries and attempts to pull out eyes.
On Tuesday, a two-month-old puppy was left at an animal shelter run by NGO Save Speechless Organization (SSO) in Hazaripahad. The puppy’s head was hit so hard by a heavy object that one of its eyes had popped out of its socket.
Some days back, a female dog was hurt in the exact same manner at Futala. “We operated on the animal but she has turned permanently blind. Last week too, a month-old puppy was brought in with exactly the same injuries,” said founder of SSO Smita Mire.
While it is hard to say whether the incidents are connected, Mire is sure that the brutality by which people are harming animals has gone to another level.
The animal shelter of the organization is at present home to more than 30 dogs, all victims of horrifying cruelties of last three-four months. “Ever since the news of dogs attacking a child got viral, people have taken upon themselves to take revenge by killing innocent strays. What they need to understand is that not all dogs are aggressive and killing them is not a solution. It will only make them animals more aggressive and fuel man-animal conflict,” added Mire.
The organization, along with local animal lovers, had recently organized a fourth protest in the city, raising voices against the increasing cruelty cases towards the voiceless. “Strict laws are in place but the police is not acting on them. This is one of the main reasons behind the rise in crime,” SSO members stated.
Highlighting another root cause of the problem, they blamed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for “miserably failing” at carrying out animal birth control (ABC) operations. “If this process was done effectively and scientifically, we would not have reached this stage. This is the mating season of dogs which is why they tend to roam in groups and become a cause of annoyance for some people. Effective sterilization would have prevented strays from being so aggressive,” the members said.
They are now planning to approach senior police and animal welfare officials. “If appropriate action is not taken now, things will get beyond control,” they said.