KOTTAYAM/KOCHI: As Kerala's man-versus-dog saga took a barbaric turn, with one particularly morbid incident on Monday in which members of a political party paraded the carcasses of dogs that had been extirpated en masse, cases were charged against 45 people — including three elected representatives cutting across party lines — for four separate incidents of dog culling in the past 20 days.
Kerala has been witnessing a heated debate for months over how to handle the menace of street dogs after there were several reports of people being mauled and maimed by the strays, and in one horrific incident, killed.
The mass cullings were the culmination of protests by several groups of people.
The Kottayam West police registered a case against as many as 15 persons, including JojiKurathiyadan, a councilor of the municipality on Monday, while Piravam Municipality Councillor and five others were arrested by the police on September 16 and a case was registered against four people including Mini Raju, a member of Njarakkal panchayat, on September 8.
Those involved in the first two cases are from Kerala Youth front, the youth wing of Kerala Congress (M), an estranged partner of UDF, while the third is from the ruling CPM. In addition to this, Nedumbassery Police registered a case against Jose Maveli, head of the Stray Dog Eradication group, and 19 others on September 20.
The Youth Front activists killed as many as 10 dogs and paraded their carcasses, tied to a log, in public on Monday. They led the protest march to the Kottayam Head Post office, to stage a mock despatch of the carcasses to Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, as a show of protest over her stance against culling the dogs.
The carcasses were left at the Head Post Office premises with Maneka Gandhi’s address labelled on them. Later, municipal authorities removed the carcasses from the place.
Speaking to Express, Youth Front (M) state president SajiManjakadambil said the decision was taken in the wake of stray dog attacks that have been causing serious threat to the public. “None of the mainstream political parties have come forward to take up the issue, even after several people were brutally attacked by the mad dogs. We cannot even imagine the severity of the brutal attack by those dogs. The stray dog menace is severe in Kottayam and its adjacent areas. We will take up the protest to the state level, if the State and Central governments continue to ignore the safety of the people,” he said.
According to Mini Raju, they killed the stray dogs as demanded by the people. “Despite bringing the issue of stray dog menace before the panchayat, no concrete action was taken by the authorities other than promising steps to sterilise the dogs. I will continue to remain on the side of the people and will work for the welfare of the people,” she said.
However, several people have expressed resentment against the violent style of protest. “It is cruel and barbaric. How can they kill and leave the carcasses of the animal in public? Taking the law into their own hands, the people's representatives are violating the spirit of the Constitution which guarantees dignity to even a dead animal. It may even lead to a street war if those fighting for animal welfare also join in,” said Justice K Narayana Kurup, Chairman of the State Police Complaints Authority.
According to Njarakkal police, a case has been registered under sections 428 and 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc) along with section 11 (Treating animals cruelly) Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
