Stray dogs picked up in illegal, cruel fashion in the wake of G20 Summit: PFA

The People For Animals PFA was reached out by air travellers at Terminal 2 who spotted screaming and yelping dogs being dragged by neck using wires by what looked like class 4 untrained workers before being bundled into vehicles, the statement said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has started picking up stray dogs, mostly sterilised in ''illegal'' manner and without any written orders, in the wake of the G20 Summit scheduled on September 8-10, People For Animals claimed in a statement on Sunday. The People For Animals (PFA) was reached out by air travellers at Terminal 2 who spotted ''screaming and yelping'' dogs being ''dragged by neck'' using wires by ''what looked like class 4 untrained workers'' before being bundled into vehicles, the statement said. Another stray dog feeder also approached the PFA saying that a lactating mother with tiny pups was picked up from Pragati Maidan and ''no one knows if all the pups have been taken or some carelessly left behind''. The animal rights group said after the hasty withdrawal of its ''ill-thought out order dated August 3'' to remove stray dogs across 47 locations in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has chosen to avoid sharing any plans or orders, and simply gone ahead to pick up dogs randomly. The statement said on September 1, catching teams swooped down on two locations -- Pragati Maidan where the long suffering dogs had been picked just over a month ago, and the Airport terminal-2 area. ''Having got wind of their intentions, the animal welfare community had actually offered its help towards the safe collection and keeping of dogs by involving local feeders in the exercise. Spurning the offer, MCD went ahead to blatantly and illegally pick up mostly sterilised dogs,'' it said.

PFA said the airport area from where dogs have never been previously picked was targeted by three teams.

''Some 60 harmless, sterilised and mostly very old dogs were caught and incarcerated at ill-equipped centres that have neither fans nor adequate staff nor even food. Only dry kibble was provided at one centre which street dogs do not eat,'' the group said.

Ambika Shukla, trustee of PFA, said there is no need to remove friendly, gentle and sterilised dogs and if you are going to do it, do it properly. ''The animal welfare community actually reached out to MCD to help collect the dogs kindly and safely. Had local caretakers been involved in the process as we suggested, there would have been no cruelty, chasing or missing dogs,'' she said.

Shukla said like other fields where experts are roped in, animal welfare people must be involved in issues dealing with stray animals. ''Rough, untrained Class 4 staff cannot be expected to handle dogs humanely. Why not take those who can? Every holding unit needs to be open to feeders and caretakers towards the best care for the dogs during their stay,'' she said.

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