Bengaluru: A controversy has erupted after animal welfare volunteers alleged that 22 community dogs were illegally captured and removed from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Phase II Township campus at CV Raman Nagar. Bengaluru Central city corporation has issued a notice to the DRDO estate manager, seeking an explanation over the alleged incident.According to the volunteers, the dogs — many of them sterilised — were captured in a cruel manner, with their mouths and legs tied, before they were sealed inside plastic bags and transported out of the campus. A video clip of the purported incident was widely shared on social media, raising concerns over who can capture stray dogs and how they can be handled. Activists claimed that the animals were taken away last week and that their current whereabouts remained unknown.
Following the complaint, the assistant director of animal husbandry at the Central corporation issued an official notice on March 6 to the DRDO estate manager. The notice stated that if the allegations were found to be true, such actions amounted to violations of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.The civic body pointed out that under the animal birth control rules, the capture, sterilisation, vaccination, and release of community dogs can only be carried out by authorised agencies under the supervision of the urban local body, and relocation of dogs from their original territory is strictly prohibited. The notice directed the DRDO estate management to submit a detailed report within three days.
