This story is from April 20, 2015

Unaware of animal cruelty laws, cops ignore missing pets

When Puja Mishra, resident of Deerwood Chase in Sector 50, found an injured Labrador wandering in the neighbourhood streets, she called the police.
Unaware of animal cruelty laws, cops ignore missing pets
GURGAON: When Puja Mishra, resident of Deerwood Chase in Sector 50, found an injured Labrador wandering in the neighbourhood streets, she called the police. When cops failed to show up, she decided to take the dog to a friend’s house.
Most abandoned pets don’t have the good fortune of coming across kind strangers like Puja. Despite top cops claiming that special nodal officers have been appointed to look into crime against animals, help is never at hand when it comes to missing and abandoned pets.

TOI found out that neither the SHO nor staff at six of Gurgaon’s seven police stations — Sadar, Bhondsi, Badshahpur, Sushant Lok, Sector 56/57 and DLF Phase II — had any knowledge about nodal officer responsible for handling animal cruelty cases.
“A cop at Sadar PS said they don’t look into complaints on pets, and that they were unaware who the nodal officer was. Isn’t it the police’s responsibility to provide residents contact details of concerned officials?” questioned Puja. She also tried to get in touch with the police commissioner via WhatsApp, without response.
Most complaints by residents about missing dogs go unnoticed. Sushma Raheja, a South City II resident, found an injured Alsatian last week and immediately posted on Gurgaon Police’s Facebook page. The complaint was not taken seriously. “I left after waiting two hours for the police, as I don't know how to take care of dogs,” she said.
Pet owners said abandonment can have severe psychological effect on pet dogs. “They are traumatized from missing their owners, which reduce a dog’s lifespan and leads to heart attack,” said Iti Tyagi of Pet Parent Association. She advised people to go through Facebook groups, such as Dogs Day Out, Indian Animal Forum, Pet Parent Association, if they found a lost dog.
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