Five stray dogs go missing from Noida’s Sector 93A, six booked for animal cruelty

As many as six people were booked by Phase 2 police on Wednesday for allegedly harming at least five stray dogs in a society in Noida’s Sector 93A.

As many as six people were booked by Phase 2 police on Wednesday for allegedly harming at least five stray dogs in a society in Noida’s Sector 93A.

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Emerald Court’s security supervisor, estate manager, a diesel generator operator and the society’s resident welfare association (RWA) have been booked in the case along with the security company’s chief executive officer and its van driver.

The complaint in the matter was filed by a former resident of the society, Colonel (retd) HP Singh, who now lives in a different society nearby.

“We were one of the first families to move into society in 2008. A couple of years later, some seven or eight puppies showed up in the area and my wife started feeding them. Over time, we even had the dogs vaccinated and neutered. They were really well-behaved and never caused any trouble to anyone,” Colonel (retd) Singh said.

He said after his wife died in September last year, he took over the job of taking care of the dogs.

“Even when I moved away last year to a society nearby, I would often come here with food for the dogs. There was a problem with the society’ resident welfare association (RWA) some 3 to 4 years ago, but my wife and other dog lovers intervened and the matter was settled amicably. However, there are some people who still have an issue with the dog’s presence,” Colonel (retd) Singh said.

He said he was out of town in the first week of March and on his return he found out that five dogs had gone missing. “We looked for them, even asked for the CCTV camera footage but were only met with excuses. It seems that between 12 midnight and 3 am on March 2, the dogs were taken away by the security at the behest of the RWA. Once we had enough evidence, we approached the police,” he added.

Based on his complaint, a case of animal cruelty was registered at the Phase 2 police station against six people.

“The dogs were loved by all the security guards. some residents had objected to the dog’s presence, but we would even help animal lovers in feeding them. There are a few dogs in society currently also. We have even alerted the guards to be on the lookout for the missing dogs. There is no way that we could have been involved,” said Prashant Malik, security supervisor of the society and is one of the persons named in the FIR.

Meanwhile, the police have lodged an investigation in the matter.

“A probe is underway, and necessary legal action will be taken accordingly,” Harish Chandra, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 2), said.