In a heartbreaking incident, a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) van was spotted carrying more than 150 dog carcasses to a cemetery. Animal rights activists in Hyderabad have alleged that the dogs were poisoned by the municipality.
They went on to allege that there were a few dogs, which were barely alive and were fighting for their lives, among the numerous animal carcasses, which were already in different stages of decomposition.
The GHMC, on the other hand, alleged that the van was on its routine drive across the city collecting dog carcasses and disposing them at a dumpsite. An animal rights activist, Vikaram Chandhak had chased that the van and stopped it. He belongs to the Greater Hyderabad Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GHSPCA) and stopped the van at LB Nagar.
He said that the dogs were not even buried properly. "Most of them looked like they were already decomposing. A few dogs that were still alive were also being ferried in the same vehicle with the dead animals," Vikaram told Times of India.
Another animal rights activist, Panneru Teja, said "There were about four dogs that were alive. A dog escaped from the pit and was sent to Blue Cross for treatment, but the others died."
A complaint was filed by all the activist at the LB Nagar police station stating that those dogs were killed at the Animal Birth Control Centre but GHMC denied the allegations.
"These are all dogs that were found dead by our staff at different locations in the city. They have to pick up all the dead animals and bring them to Auto Nagar Carcass Utilisation Centre so that the bodies are not left on the streets," DR Venkateshwara Reddy, Chief Veterinary Officer, GHMC, had said.
When asked regarding the dogs, which were alive but were transported with the dead ones, GHMC said the officials had no choice because of public demands but they will be later taken to the vet clinic after the carcasses were disposed of. However, the GHMC did not have a response regarding the current situation when the dogs were spotted being buried alive with the dead ones.
Unfortunately, this is not the only incident in recent history in South India where there was an alleged mass murder of dogs.
At least 15 sterilised and vaccinated stray dogs in Malappuram in Kerala were hammered to death. The incident happened last Thursday in Thurakkal region near Manjeri bypass road. Activists claim that it allegedly took place with the knowledge of the Manjeri municipal authorities.
The news surfaced when carcasses of 15 dogs were spotted in a tipper vehicle and a heartbreaking video of the carcasses went viral. The truck, in which they were found, belongs to the Manjeri Municipality.
An officer at The Humane Society International condemned the killing saying that the dogs were harmless and she did not know why they had to be killed since they were all sterilised.
