Following Complaints by PETA India and Others, Youth Arrested for Running over Dog with Car

For Immediate Release:

28 November 2018

Contact:

Meet Ashar ; [email protected]

Garima Jain; [email protected]

FIR Filed Against Culprit While PETA India Calls For Stringent Action

Mumbai – After receiving information that a youth residing in Ghatkopar allegedly killed a stray dog by purposely running over him with his car, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India joined Shubham Mahadik, an activist working for the welfare of stray dogs, in approaching the Mumbai Police, who filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the perpetrator under Sections 279 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code as well as under Sections 11(1)(a) and (l) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960. The vehicle was impounded by the police, and the accused was arrested and later released on bail. The CCTV footage shows that the accused first ran over the dog at with the front wheels and then again with the rear wheels, killing him on the spot. This incident took place around 3 am on 21 November.

“People who are cruel to animals often move on to harming humans,” says PETA India Lead Emergency Response Coordinator Meet Ashar. “It’s imperative for the public to report cases of cruelty to animals such as this one for everyone’s safety.”

“We shouldn’t take undue advantage of the silence of animals – just because they can’t speak, [that] doesn’t mean their screams can’t be heard,” says Mahadik.

According to mental-health and law-enforcement authorities, people who commit acts of cruelty to animals often move on to hurting humans. In a study of domestic violence victims, 60 per cent of women said that their abusive partners had harmed or killed their dogs or other animals.

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – has long campaigned to strengthen India’s PCA Act, 1960, which contains outdated penalties, such as a maximum fine of only Rs 50 for convicted first-time offenders.

Several other recent cases of cruelty to animals have also shown the need for stronger penalties for these offences, including the following: a Mumbai man battered a kitten to death by hitting her with a bamboo stick and then smashing her against the wall, a Bangalore woman killed eight puppies, Chennai medical students threw a puppy from a roof, and Vellore medical students tortured a monkey to death.

For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com.

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