MCD lets the dogs out at last, but with a host of violations

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) drive to pick up community dogs from streets and public spaces across the Capital ahead of the G20 Summit of its own accord and without being asked to do so by anybody began cruelly and inhumanely more than 10 days ago.

And it culminated in chaos and more cruelty on Monday, according to animal rights groups, as authorities started releasing canines back into colonies-at random, not their home habitats.

With no records of the animals' original territories to rely on, officials on Monday released the animals across neighbourhoods in Delhi, with many canines from disparate packs now in unfamiliar territory, said rights groups.

Many dogs were not properly tagged while being picked up and locked in pounds, kept away from their territories for several days, and released into neighbourhoods at random on Monday, said Ambika Shukla, animal rights activist and the director of Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre.

"We had offered to coordinate with them before releasing dogs but MCD in a vindictive manner pre-empted us and starting loading dogs without letting us identify them. The dogs from Red Fort are microchipped and they were kept in Rohini, Usmanpur and Bela Road but they even called police to stop us in ensuring an orderly release. The corporation has failed at every step over the last 11 days from illegal capturing of dogs, using cruel methods to lift them, a lack of staying facilities, to now finally at messing up the process of releasing them back. Instead of making amends, the corporation now seems to be vindictive and this will lead to so many missing and relocated old, blind and weak dogs," Shukla said.