Raipur Police Books Man for Stuffing Puppies Into Sacks and Dumping Them Following PETA India Complaint

For Immediate Contact:

6 April 2023

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Raipur – After a video went viral of several men from Imperial Heights society stuffing puppies into plastic sacks to relocate them from the society where they were born, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s Dr Kiran Ahuja and locals Vanchana Laban, Prashoon Jha, and Manu Baghel complained to Kabir Nagar police station. The police registered a first information report (FIR) under Section 11 (1) (d) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, against a resident of Imperial Heights accused of illegally displacing five 4-month-old puppies on 2 April. Two of the puppies have since been returned to their area, but the whereabouts and wellbeing of the other three is unknown. On PETA India’s urging, the police have secured an undertaking from the society that they will search for the missing relocated puppies and will never engage in cruelty to animals or harassment of community dog feeders again.

“PETA India commends the efforts of Raipur police and thanks Chief Superintendent of Police Shri Mayank Gurjar IPS for sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” says PETA India Manager of Cruelty Response Projects Meet Ashar. “The fear, distress, and hunger – or worse – that the lost puppies must be facing is frightful. PETA India is calling on all resident welfare associations to address the dog overpopulation crisis by getting the dogs in their communities sterilised and not employ cruel, illegal, and ineffective methods, such as displacement.”

Rule 11(19) of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023, permits the capturing of community dogs only for the purpose of sterilisation and makes it illegal to relocate community animals. It states that “the dogs shall be released [after sterilisation] at the same place or locality from where they were captured”. The Honourable Supreme Court, vide an interim order dated 18 November 2015, in the case titled Animal Welfare Board of India v People for Elimination of Stray Troubles mandates adherence to animal birth control rules, 2023, and the PCA Act, 1960. The apex court emphasised that the use of any method to deal with community dogs other than those in the statutory provisions would be contrary to law and hence illegal. The court through this judgement directed all civic bodies to start a robust sterilisation programme for dogs to control their population and associated problems. Relocation of dogs could amount to violation of the PCA Act, 1960, animal birth control rules, 2023, and the aforementioned Supreme Court order.

PETA India notes that community dogs are often subjected to cruelty at the hands of humans or hit by vehicles, and they commonly suffer from starvation, diseases, or injuries. Many end up in animal shelters every year, where they languish in cages or kennels due to a lack of good homes. The solution is simple: sterilisation. Sterilising one female dog can prevent 67,000 births over six years, and sterilising one female cat can prevent 4,20,000 births over seven years. 

To report cruelty to animals or emergencies involving them, please call the group on 9820122602. PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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