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After leopard attack on dog in Thane, abandoned pups provided shelter by MSEDCL staff
Seven week-old puppies, abandoned by their mother following an attack by a leopard, have been adopted in Thane.
Seven week-old puppies, abandoned by their mother following an attack by a leopard, have been adopted in Thane.
A few Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) employees and animal lovers in Patlipada area of Ghodbunder Road, Thane, are taking care of these puppies. They have also built a cage to protect them from leopards and snakes as the office is near the forest.
The leopard entered the MSEDCL office premises in Patlipada at around 1.00 am on Saturday night and took away the dog. The entire incident was witnessed by the watchman of the MSEDCL office. The forest officials paid a visit to the site on Tuesday.
Abhilash Ulhas Dawre, 24, an animal lover and a security guard with MSEDCL’s Patlipada office, said, “I was on night duty on Saturday at the MSEB store, which is completely surrounded by forest. At around 11:30 pm, I heard the barking of stray dogs and thought a snake would have tried to attack the puppies that were delivered just a week ago. I took my snake stick and went in search of a reptile. However, I could not see any.”
Dawre returned to his office. Again, he heard loud barking at 1.00 am. “I again came out and saw a leopard taking the stay dog away. It happened so fast that I could barely save the dog. There are also pugmarks where the leopard was spotted.”
Dawre kept the puppies aside, safe from the wild animal. “It was not the first time such an attack on a stray dog took place. Earlier, too such instances have taken place in the area,” added Dawre.
After the news of the attack spread in the adjoining MSEDCL colony, several youngsters, Nishanth Nair, Aniket Korde, Vishal Gawhale, Sushanth Rathod, Chetan Joshi and Rohit Korde, all in their 20s, came to help out Daware.
“Together, we built a house for the pups so that they do not fall prey to the leopard again. We feed them from time to time using syringes as they are still young. We also installed a light in the area at night to prevent more such attacks,” he said.
The youngsters have also informed the forest officials and a few NGOs to put the puppies up for adoption. However, adoption is possible only when the puppies are at least a month old.
Sandeep More, Range Forest Officer, Thane, confirmed about the leopard attack on stray and said, “Since lockdown, the leopard has been frequently sighted along areas like Srinagar and Haware City. This is the same adult leopard that visits all these areas and attacks stray dogs. We have created awareness among the societies where he has been sighted. On Tuesday, we visited the MSEDCL office where there was a sighting on Saturday. The puppies are safe though the locals informed that the female dog was snatched by the leopard.”
