Hardly a week after a panchayat member led the killing of seven stray dogs at Njarakkal, a similar incident was reported in Piravom municipality where a councillor took initiative to kill as many as 10 stray dogs on Friday.
The Piravom police arrested Gils Periappuram, councillor of Ward No. 20, chairman of the education standing committee, and dog catcher Ranjan Varapuzha. They were later released on bail.
Stray dog menace is acute in Ward No. 20, as reflected in an incident a fortnight ago when a few local residents took stray dogs to the municipal council hall where the council meeting was under way.
“We had no other option but to eliminate the animals, as dog bites are being reported almost on a daily basis in the ward. We will continue with the killing, and the public is fully behind us,” Mr. Periappuram said.
A group of people, led by the councillor, combed several areas of the municipality for more than eight hours, starting from the wee hours of Friday. As many as 10 stray dogs were asphyxiated using a noose with the help of dog catcher Ranjan Varapuzha.
Businessman Kochouseph Chittilappilly and Jose Maveli, chairman of the stray dog elimination group, facilitated the service of the dog catcher following a request by Mr. Periappuram.
Though they caught close to 100 dogs, only 10 could be trapped. The exercise was suspended on police intervention around 11 a.m. The incident came to light after a video of dead dogs was released. Mr. Periappuram complained that though a meeting of the heads of local bodies convened by the District Collector at the start of this month had decided to adopt the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme to check stray dog menace, nothing had come out of it.
Meanwhile, Piravom municipal chairman Sabu K. Jacob said it was an act of protest by the councillor who was fed up with frequent dog bite incidents reported in his ward. He added that the ABC programme could not be implemented for want of veterinary surgeons.
“We agree with Minister for Local Self-government T.K. Jaleel’s view that dangerous dogs should be dealt with. There is no other solution before local bodies,” he said.
The carcasses of dogs were subjected to postmortem by a medical team led by four veterinary surgeons.
We had no other option but to eliminate the animals, as dog bites are being reported on a daily basis. We will continue with the killing.
Gils Periappuram,
Councillor
Ward No. 20
