Jagtial Police Register FIR for Cruel Capture and Illegal Relocation of Over a Hundred Dogs, Following Complaint by PETA India and SAFI

Following reports from a local resident and corroborating video evidence that over a hundred community dogs were allegedly cruelly captured from the Matamwada area and stuffed into vans by a group of catchers reportedly hired by the Chairman of Metpally Municipality to illegally relocate them, PETA India and the Stray Animal Foundation of India (SAFI) successfully facilitated the registration of a first information report (FIR) in the matter. Based on a complaint filed by Mr Adulapuram Goutham, Cruelty Prevention Manager at SAFI, Hyderabad, PETA India coordinated with Metpally Police Station for registration of FIR under Section 62 read with Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 11(1)(a) and 38(3) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, against the Chairman of Metpally Municipality. Police have initiated an investigation to trace the missing dogs and determine whether they were illegally abandoned, relocated, or are still alive.

Rule 11(19) of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, permits the capture of community dogs only for the purpose of sterilisation and makes it illegal to relocate community animals. It states, “The dogs shall be released [after sterilisation] at the same place or locality from where they were captured.” The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in its recent judgment dated 19 May 2026, upheld the ABC Rules by reiterating that dogs shall be released back to their territories following the necessary procedures mandated in the ABC Rules, 2023.

Community dogs are often subjected to cruelty or struck by cars and commonly suffer from starvation, disease, or injury. Every year, many end up in animal shelters, where they languish in cages or kennels for lack of enough 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 420,000 births over seven years.