Vet, team booked for dog’s death due to ‘negligence’

Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, May 20

Alleged cruelty against a sick dog and negligence in handling of the canine cost dearly a veterinary doctor serving at the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) vet clininc here. The police have booked the doctor, his team and assistants under Sections 428 and 34, IPC, and Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act on the complaint of the dog owner, Baljit Singh, a resident of Shahpur Kalan village in Sangrur district.

In his complaint, Baljit said he had brought his Rottweiler (a German breed) dog for treatment to the GADVASU’s vet clinic on Wednesday morning as the dog was shedding water from his eyes. “In the course of treatment, the doctor and his team covered the dog’s mouth with a muzzle so tightly that after some time it started feeling suffocated and blood started oozing out of the mouth of the dog,” he alleged while adding that his repeated pleas to remove the muzzle from the mouth of dog were ignored.

The police said the matter was being investigated and further action would be taken on the completion of preliminary investigation.

Meanwhile, the GADVASU Teachers’ Association has taken a strong note of ‘ill-informed’ information regarding the death of the dog in the GADVASU hospital and registration of FIR in the case.

Dr Ashwani Kumar, president of the association, said the GADVASU teaching hospital received approximately 30,000 cases from throughout the Punjab and North India, and clinicians were working round the clock to provide the best possible services to farmers and pet owners even during the pandemic and lockdown period.

He said the reported case belonged to a senior government official and was presented to the hospital by the guards of the ‘VIP’. “The attendants were unwilling to handle and control the animal. Similarly, the alleged use of jute bag during handling is concocted version whereas the fact is that animal was restrained with muzzle by the guards,” he claimed.

According to Dr Kumar, the said dog was suffering from ocular discharge and subcutaneous nodule on chest and the post-mortem had revealed the dog to be tentatively suffering from liver cancer.

He asserted that the views reported by the pet owner (or his guard) being diametrically opposite to actual ground position and based on distorted facts, the GADVASU faculty members would continue to hold protest till the FIR against the teacher was not withdrawn.