FIR against Mulund couple who stuffed stray dog in car trunk, then left it in dump yard

An FIR has been lodged against a couple at Mulund (West) police station on grounds of cruelty after they allegedly smuggled a stray dog from their society in the trunk of their car, took it to the Govandi dumping ground and left it there. This is the first animal cruelty case to be lodged at Mulund police station.

Sneha Mahimane, a resident of Veena Sadan society, told dna she realised on Tuesday that the female stray had gone missing. Later, she discovered that her neighbours, Bharti and Naresh Khanna had left the dog at the Govandi dumping yard. "My family along with three others used to regularly feed the dog. Now I don't even know if she is alive. I confronted my neighbour, and she accepted it saying that the dog was troubling residents. She was very rude to me. When we asked her why she put the dog in the trunk of her car, she said she had left the AC on. What kind of an explanation is that?" asked Sneha, a photography student, adding that the dog was sterilised and vaccinated.

Sneha then contacted PAWA India, an NGO, who got her in touch with two animal activists. The trio then made Bharti, who allegedly teaches in a Bhandup school, to lead them to the area where she had abandoned the dog. "We searched for hours but could not find her," said Pooja Bhandari, an activist.

Finally, the three made their way to Mulund police station. "It took us hours to convince the police to take action," said Chandra Singh, another activist.

Meet Ashar, an animal welfare officer, reached the police station a few minutes later. With his help, Sneha finally managed to get an FIR registered. "I would not have been able to live peacefully had I done nothing about this," said Sneha.

An FIR was lodged against the Khannas under sections 428 (mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless an animal) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. "An FIR has been lodged. This is the first case of animal cruelty that has been reported to us," said sub-inspector R N Patole of Mulund police station.

The Khannas refused to speak to dna about the matter.

Under the Animal Birth Control Rules 2001, no sterilized dogs can be relocated from their area. As per five different high court orders, sterilized dogs have to remain in their original areas. They cannot relocate them. Relocation is not permissible, as it would cause more problems such as an increase in dog bites as new dogs who are unfamiliar with residents will move into the area and are therefore more likely to be hostile.