Massive culling of strays at Palakkad

Thiruvananthapuram: There has been yet another case of massive culling of dogs, this time in Marutharode Panchayat, Palakkad. Photographs of the dogs suggest that some had undergone ABC surgery. A petition was filed at Kasaba Police Station against the illegal killing of 15 dogs by environmentalist Sachin Stalin. He has listed the names of Marutharode Grama Panchayat President S Indira, Vice-President K B Muralidharan and 6 unknown contractors hired by them as suspected offenders.

It is suspected that the number of dogs killed far exceeds 15. Sally Kannan, honorary animal welfare officer, AWBI, shared a photograph of the abdomen area of a neutered dog. “The freshly shaven abdominal area points to the fact that the dog recently underwent ABC surgery. The photographs were clicked by dog catchers who found the bodies. They say that more bodies, close to 100, were found on Sunday,” she said.

The ABC programme was being executed with must zeal in Palakkad since June. A total of 834 dogs have undergone ABC surgery so far, according to Dr Bijuprasad M, Veterinary Surgeon, Palakkad ABC Programme. Unlike the recent cases of culling in Kerala, the panchayat leaders have not come forward and taken responsibility. Moreover, Palakkad district panchayat has invested fairly into the programme - District Panchayat contributed Rs 10 lakh; Block Panchayats Rs 5 lakh each and each grama panchayath Rs 3.5 lakh. Kasaba station Circle Inspector Vipin Das said that an FIR has been filed. He said that the police could not find the carcasses when they visited the sites.