Moga police avert dog fight on Maneka Gandhi’s tip-off

Kulwinder Sandhu

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Tribune News Service

Moga, June 15

The Moga police averted a dog fight show, which was scheduled to be held at a farm house near Nihalsinghwala on Friday. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi called up SSP Raj Jit Singh Hundal, on Thursday and asked him to stop the show and take legal action against the organisers.

The police have registered a case under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, at the Nihalsinghwala police station. “We have registered an FIR against the organisers. We have got their phone numbers on the basis of which they will be identified,” said SHO Dilbagh Singh.

The organisers used to conduct dog fights secretly in farm houses in the past, but this time Maneka took up the issue and directed the SSP to stop this practice, claiming it was an act of cruelty to animals. Meanwhile, local sources told The Tribune that the dog fight was being organised by two youths of Moga city with an entry fee of Rs 500 per dog. They had been organising such fights for the past many years.

The organisers did not reveal the venue of the dog fight, but posted a message to their “clients” through social media that it would be organised within a range of 2 km from Nihalsinghwala.

The SHO said the local police raided a few places at Dhurkot and a couple of other villages, but could not find any dog fight in progress. He said due to the police crackdown, the organisers cancelled their proposed show in the area.

Sources said a betting racket was also being run illegally on the pretext of dog fights and bets ranged from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh. Besides dog owners, a selected number of financially influential people are also invited to watch the dog fights, who put bets on dogs.

Trained dogs such as pit bull, bulldog and other breeds are made to take part in fights. A lot of money is involved in dog fights, sources added.