‘Man’s Best Friends Poisoned by Man’? Killing 10 Innocent Stray Dogs is Malicious & Cruel

‘Man’s Best Friends Poisoned by Man’? Killing 10 Innocent Stray Dogs is Malicious & Cruel

Mangaluru : As a pet owner of four breed dogs and four desi dogs, and also being a Good Samaritan to a bunch of stray dogs that come to our house gate looking for morning ‘breakfast’, where I feed them, I was very much saddened by the news that about ten stray dogs were poisoned and killed in Manipal, during the weekend. Which person would do such a horrible thing? Either that person has to be sick in the head or completely inhuman or hate stray animals. If you look at the headlines in a bunch of the newspapers this morning- in one column you’ll read that a 5-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl were mauled by a pack of stray dogs in the outskirts of Bengaluru- while the boy died, the girl is recovering with injuries to her cheek and eye.

And in the other column, there is yet another news about 10 stray dogs being poisoned to death by an unknown man, who as per witnesses say that a man had come on a two-wheeler and fed a bunch of stray dogs in front of Mandavi Emerald Apartments in Manipal. Sources reveal that while eight stray dogs were seen battling for the life outside the Mandavi Emerald building on Monday night, two were reportedly found outside Mandavi Sovereign building. As per Animal Rights Activist Babitha Madhwaraj that a CCTV footage shows a man coming on a bike and feeding fish laced with poison to these local dogs. She feels that it must be some section of people who felt that these stray dogs can be a threat to them.

Yes, that could be the reason for this arrogant man to take revenge on these stray dogs which for him seems like a menace. But taking such a cruel step to kill the dogs is a very malicious and cruel act, which need to be condemned and if this person is caught should be punished severely. Killing an animal is similar to killing a human being because both have lives. It’s true that the stray dog menace is increasing day by day in Mangaluru too, and even though it’s not publicized, there are dog biting cases coming to Wenlock hospital regularly- and no officials from the Animal Control Board nor the District Administration nor Mangaluru city corporation had taken any preventive measures to such issues.

The increasing stray dog menace in cities leaves us with a bloody reminder every now and then but it’s back to square one in a distressingly short time. It is the duty of the civic agencies to curb dog populations through humane birth control measures. But it does not seem to be working-the Supreme Court has said as much. The authorities cannot simply pass the buck to animal rights activists- the activists are doing the best they can, but the involvement of officials of civic agencies is also a must in tackling the stray dogs’ menace. And it’s also the duty of the citizens, as much it is of the MCC, to ensure roadsides are not turned into festering garbage dumps, offering strays a feast of leftovers.

And it is also learned that Mangaluru not having many independent houses, and pet lovers who love to have a pet, adopt stray puppies so that they can be accommodated in the apartment space, but once the puppy turns into a grown-up dog, it is left on the street- thus adding number to the stray dog population. Such citizens should not be considered as pet lovers. Why even bother to adopt a pup if you can’t take care of it when it grows up? Anyone being cruel or killing an animal, such act is a violation of section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-1960, sections 426, 429 of the Indian Penal code and section 93 of the Karnataka Police Act.

Another sad part is that no one wants to adopt or take home a female pup/dog- and thus we see more of female strays on the street. I myself have experienced it- two months ago, there were four puppies lying at a corner roadside near Kadri, and feeling pity on these 4 cute beauties, I took them home, in order to take care of them till someone adopts them. Out of 4 puppies, two were females- but the two males were picked up by pet lovers within a week, but it took a long time for someone to adopt the females. I tried every way I could, even sought the help of local animal activists, but all in vain- but finally, it was God who sent a man, who was ready to take this two families- but unfortunately I later found out that the man was an alcoholic and a loser- but I am glad that his mother and sisters have agreed to nurture these two four months old four-legged females.

Now coming back to the poisoning of these 10 dogs by this “Idiot” is a case of malicious poisoning, where someone puts a toxic substance on or into something that an animal would eat or play, and it is a premeditated act of cruelty. Most research splits between passive and active cruelty. Passive is like when a person doesn’t do anything to the animal but neglects it. But cases like this one that happened in Manipal are active cruelty. It can be a reaction to a perceived problem. For example, a neighbor that’s fed-up with a dog’s barking or dog’s menace.

One journal has listed other potential reasons of why people are actively cruelty to animals: To enhance the animal’s aggression; To shock people for their own amusement; To get revenge on someone; To use pets as a way to control partners in an abusive relationship; They are suffering from a psychological disorder. But the journal doesn’t emphasize that there hadn’t been a lot of research into the area of animal abuse. But what led to this man to take such a cruel step in poisoning these dogs will only be known when he is caught.

Even though it’s known about these ten dogs being poisoned, but there are no exact records of the number of dogs who’ve been poisoned and it’s hard to identify in most cases whether the poisoning was malicious or accidental. However, there have been incidents where malicious poisoning was suspected. Sources reveal that few dogs were found dead in the Malpe area, but that didn’t make big news. Probably the locals might have thought the deaths could have been accidental. There are very good chances that stray dogs could die of poisoning them by animal haters, but such deaths going unnoticed. Sources also reveal that accidental poisoning is more common than malicious poisoning, but states that excessive barking by stray dogs can be a major source of conflict. A person complaining about barking has noise pollution laws on their side. If you ignore your neighbors’ complaints, this sort of situation [poisoning] could happen.

But it doesn’t happen always- as we have never heard of such issues of dogs being poisoned and killed in Mangaluru or DK or Udupi. But this incident happening in Manipal is very, very upsetting when deliberate poisoning happens. It is very difficult to determine why someone would poison dogs, and it makes me “hard to understand” why it happened. It could be some people are frightened of dogs or some people just don’t like dogs, and “their very existence can upset some people”. It could also be because of personal grudges. It’s a way to get back at someone, to hurt them in some way.

I wish the cops will be able to catch this culprit and get the real reason for this man to take such a cruel step in poisoning ten dogs, which animal activists in Manipal say that these dogs were kind, calm and friendly with strangers. Really a tragic end to these innocent “Man’s Best Friends ” to face from a Man! So in conclusion, to all the dog owners to be aware of what their dogs eat while out on walks and to safely store toxic substances like rat poison, etc out of their pets reach. Sometimes something like meat laced with rat poison could have been meant for a different animal but birds have picked it up and dropped in elsewhere- and dogs might eat them. There are some cases where dogs have been sedated as part of a plan to break into a house. So until and unless the police track down the man who killed these ten dogs, we can’t come any conclusion the motive behind the killings.

And finally for all those who hate dogs or harm dogs, here is a very motivating video as to How A Dog is a Man’s Best friend’ and for that matter, in this video “How a Dog is Woman’s Best Friend’- hoping that once you watch the video all you dog haters will start loving these four-legged animals!

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW: