Cruelty against animals up by 80%, say activists

Nashik: A female Labrador, Lucy aka Sweety, succumbed to her injury on the eve of Animal Rights Day (November 25) after being hit by a bamboo stick and abandoned by her owners.
The only animal shelter in the city, Sharan, tried to treat her injury that eventually resulted to cancer, but she was brought to them too late. Lucy is not the only case of animal cruelty in the city though.
Activists rue that cruelty towards animals has risen by 80% in the last one year in the country. While cruelty towards stray animals always existed, animal activists are now surprised by how cruel people can be to their own pet animals.
“Lucy’ was beaten near the nose so badly that she suffered a crack. As she was not treated immediately, she developed abscess and had continuous bleeding. The owner just left her at our shelter. Since three years she was under chemotherapy here. But she was brought to us very late. They abandoned her after she developed cancer,” said founder-trustee of the animal shelter, Sharanya.
Another Labrador, Boxer was left on the footpath near Indiranagar bypass after she developed maggots on her tail. This two-and-a-half year female who had bred puppies twice was abandoned as soon as she was diseased. Another good looking and healthy dog was abandoned because it had an injured tail.
Several dog owners have abandoned their pets after knowing that there is no treatment that will help them. Kaya, another female Labrador was abandoned after the owners discovered that she had cancerous symptoms after suffering from vaginal outgrowth, due to over breeding.
“We treated Kavya and she is fine now. Lab pups fetch between Rs 5,000 and Rs 30,000, so it is common for people to opt for them as pets,” said Sharanya.
She said that this year alone, the animal shelter had registered 84 cases of animal cruelty.
Most times people keep pets to either make money of them or have them as a status symbol. “Few years back, a cow had swallowed plastic bags and was in pain. She was taken to the government veterinary polyclinic by activists. The doctors extracted 16kg of plastic from her. The owner, later claimed her back. Every second day, dogs and snakes are hit for no reason. Recently, we even had the Vellore incident where medical students tortured a monkey to death,” Sharanya added.