Dogs’ death case: Maneka demands stringent punishment for suspect

Former Union Minister, animal rights activist and environmentalist, Maneka Gandhi, has sought stringent punishment for a local resident, who has been accused of burning alive nine dogs at his alleged unregistered and unmanned shelter recently.

Gurjant Singh of New Shimlapuri here was booked by the Commissionerate Police on the complaint of a local animal rights activist, Mani Singh. An FIR under Sections 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act had been registered in this regard at the Dehlon police station on March 15.

Expressing shock over what she termed as a “horrible incident”, the senior BJP leader and chairperson of People for Animals (PFA), India’s largest non-governmental animal welfare organisation with a nationwide network of 26 hospitals, 165 units, 60 mobile units, and 2.5 lakh members, said: “The suspect in the case, Gurjant Singh, should be kept in jail and given stringent punishment for deliberately burning alive nine dogs that he could not sell. He has done this in several other shelters in the past as well”.

Noting that humans cannot exist without animals, Maneka added: “Yet we create a world in which they are abused and misused. Let us recognise the partnership between us and further it for the good of all animals — both on two legs and four”.

Meanwhile, local animal volunteers and activists have also demanded strict punishment for the suspect after visuals of burnt bodies of the dogs in his shelter went viral.

“The shelter had no caretaker in the night and the dogs were caged or chained in the same when the fire broke,” Dr Navneet Kaur, the founder of Animal Welfare and Care Services (AWCS), a registered NGO that rescues and treats stray animals, said.

Advocating for animal rights, this Canada-based activist said: “Even after being booked by the police, the culprit refused to release remaining dogs that were alive and still chained and caged in horrible and unhygienic conditions in the same shelter that still remained unmanned”.

However, following the issue raised by the animal rights activists, all remaining dogs were rescued by PFA and AWCS members, who transported them to safety with the help of the police.

“It is my request to all animal lovers to ensure that NGOs are registered and have proper caretakers and doctors on board before sending your innocent animals there,” Dr Kaur appealed while urging the local authorities to round up all such quacks, who have been scamming good-hearted people and playing with the lives of animals to make blood money.

She also lauded Maneka Gandhi and the PFA for always standing for animal rights.