An animal rights organization accused the Comilla City Corporation (CCC) of violating a High Court order by killing dogs indiscriminately in different places across Comilla City.
In a press release, People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation Chairman Rakibul Haq Emil said: “The CCC has been killing dogs indiscriminately for the last 15 or 20 days. This is a total violation of the High Court’s stay order on the killing of dogs, and is a punishable crime according to Section 7 of the Animal Welfare Act, 2019.”
Referring to secretly recorded videos of the killings , the PAW Foundation chairman said CCC street cleaners have been catching dogs with iron traps and caging them in a brutal manner on special carts.
According to the press release, CCC Inspector of Conservancies, Alamgir Hossain, told the PAW Foundation: “I know about the order from the High Court. We only conduct drives against dogs if area residents file complaints. I do not know how many of the dogs were hydrophobic (a sign of rabies) or how many people were bitten by the dogs, as no data has been recorded. We do not have time to check this information. We conduct the drives with oral permission from the mayor and councillors.”
The PAW Foundation said the killing of dogs without evidence of threat to public health is nothing but an expression of hatred against the animals.
Regarding the killing of dogs without documented reports of animal attacks, CCC Sanitary Inspector Mejbah Uddin said: “Every day, people come to the city corporation with complaints of dog bites. A dog bit a primary school teacher, some female students of Victoria College, and many other people have been complaining about these dogs. We did not do anything unlawful.”
CCC Mayor Monirul Haque Sakku said: “Everyday, many people complain about dogs, from Fazr prayers to evening. As it is unlawful, we do not conduct any drives against dogs without a complaint.”