NEW DELHI: A slew of incidents involving cruelty to stray dogs, who were dragged by their neck with wires in Delhi at Airport Terminal 2 this week by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the wake of G20 preparations, have triggered protests by animal welfare groups in India.
Several organizations including Maneka Gandhi’s People for Animal (PFA) organization are up in arms against civic authorities and the civil aviation ministry over the videos that were filmed over the past three days as India prepares to host a three-day G20 extravaganza in Delhi. 47 such incidents have been reported in the last week, the PFA said.
At a press conference in Delhi, PFA, took attack to MCD but insisted that Delhi mayor Shaily Oberoi, was not aware of this “completely illegal drive”.
PFA also claimed that the vans being used to ferry animals have arrived from Gujarat and are rickety and ramshackle.
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Ambika Shukla, trustee of PFA, told The New Indian, that no authority in India can remove sterilized and friendly dogs.
“Firstly, there is no need to remove friendly, gentle, sterilized dogs. Second when we approached MCD to help dogs “financially and emotionally”, MCD refused it.
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Tarana, an actress and social worker, said “stray dogs are not garbage and are an integral part of our Indian community. They are deeply linked with our culture and heritage. G20’s theme is ‘One earth, One family, One future’. What is the future of these dogs if we are snatching their present too?”
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Use of wires against the amenable and friendly butterfly nets have been questioned.
“Various traumatic stories of dogs were shared that involved ill treatment of stray dogs. No information has been shared about the whereabouts of dogs. No one knows where they are dropped off and what their condition is. Several feeders have been relentlessly looking for their dogs,” said Shukla
Shukla also egged on citizens to report the movement of such vans in Delhi.
“These dogs are citizens of this country as well. Try to stop the vans whenever you spot one. We will protest physically as well. We will try to go to the court as well,” she said.