A dog was found dead in a stray dog shelter in Raigad on Tuesday night.
The shelter, located in Khalapur in Raigad, is home to about 150 dogs and is run by Renu Rai, who has been actively caring for stray dogs for several years. Sources said over the past few weeks, dogs from the shelter were reported missing. While villagers told the local police that they had wandered off in search of food, Ms. Rai alleged that the dogs were driven away by locals.
Chetan Sharma, an animal rights activist and part of the NGO People For Animals, said, “We found a dead dog in the shelter on Tuesday night. We suspect more were killed while villagers tried to drive them away. A few dogs have returned and we are looking for the others.”
The Khalapur police said they have been receiving complaints against Ms. Rai for several months. Police Inspector Jameel Sheikh said, “The villagers have alleged that after Ms. Rai’s husband died, she has been unable to raise funds to run the shelter. The three watchmen employed at the shelter quit their jobs without notice recently. We questioned one of them on Tuesday and he said that he had not been paid for several months. The shelter does not have boundary walls and the dogs could have easily wandered off.”
The police have sent the carcass for post mortem. Mr. Sheikh said there were no external injuries and action would be taken based on the report.
