Bengaluru News: NGO in the dock after killing a stray dog

Bengaluru: After a stray dog ​​died in the city due to a goof-up in a sterilisation operation carried out by an NGO, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has temporarily suspended the contract. The police have also registered a separate case of animal cruelty. DH has learnt that the BBMP special commissioner (health) has directed NGO ASRA to stop the animal birth control (ABC) programme in Mahadevapura, RR Nagar and Yelahanka areas till further orders. It has also been learnt that the NGO is running the programme without the mandatory project recognition certificate from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). A letter addressed to the BBMP commissioner dated March 19, 2024 by the AWBI, seen by DH, directed the corporation to stop the ABC programme and cancel the tender given to ASRA, VSAWRD, Sarvodaya and Care of Voiceless Animals Trust, as they did not have the project recognition certificate. A BBMP source revealed that ASRA continued with the ABC without a project recognition certificate even after seeking multiple extensions. An FIR was filed against an ASRA worker at the HAL police station on June 7. According to Saroja Dilipan, the complainant, the healthy female dog named Lakshmi was picked up by ASRA’s Krishna along with four other stray dogs from Anand Nagar slum on May 2 at 12.30 pm after being contacted by another animal worker from the NGO. The sterilised dogs were released back around 11 am on May 6. Suresh, a daily wage labourer from the slum and Lakshmi’s caretaker, found that the dog’s intestines were protruding out of the surgery wound and she was in a lot of pain. A photo of the injured dog was seen by DH. Saroja claimed that Suresh contacted Krishna and he arrived at the spot three hours later. “Krishna caught Lakshmi using a net and took her away in a van,” she alleged. Suresh later contacted Krishna and was told that the dog was dead. “When Suresh asked him to hand over the body for cremation, Krishna told him that they would do so. When Suresh asked him for photographs, Krishna disconnected the call and has not responded since then,” Saroja alleged. She also said that since the ABC centre in Mahadevapura was closed, the dogs were being taken to Yelahanka, about 30 km away, for sterilisation, causing a lot of stress to the animals. “The negligence of the NGO was also the reason for the dog’s death,” the complainant said. Arun Prasad, a member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Bengaluru Urban), said there were a lot of lapses in the process. “The jurisdictional veterinary officer does not supervise the surgeries and the entire programme is carried out negligently,” he told DH. The HAL police have registered a case under Section 11 (committing cruelty to animals) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and relevant IPC sections. A highly placed police source told DH that investigators were awaiting the post-mortem report and action would be initiated as per the law. Repeated calls by DH to ASRA president Radha Amarnath went unanswered.