Stray cats killed in gated colony

A gated community in Toli Chowki, according to a complaint with the police, has caught, sedated and killed stray cats that made their home on the premises.

It prompted an animal rights’ organisation, Humane Society India (HSI), to complain to the Director General of Police against what it called “inhumane” treatment of cats by the gated community.

“We received pictures and videos of cats being chased through the complex, caught, sedated and killed,” HSI managing director Alokparna Sengupta told Deccan Chronicle. “The pictures were from a society in Toli Chowki. The society’s secretary said they had hired a team to catch the cats, as they were defecating in the garden. While there were compassionate ways to get rid of these cats, they chose to kill them.”

Humane Society India (HSI) managing director Alokparna Sengupta added: “There has been an increase in cruelty against street animals by affluent gated communities. The pain and fear that these cats endured is hard to imagine. We urge the police to treat this case seriously to discourage violence against animals.”

Citing laws under which the entrapment and killing of animals in this manner is a crime, she cited Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(l) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. While the IPC is a criminal code addressing a substantive collection of crimes, the PCA is criminal legislation effected to prevent animal cruelty.

“No resident association can issue directives or utilise their position in contravention to the laws of the land,” she said.

In a circular to residents dated January 29, 2020, the residential complex association asked all residents to keep the doors and windows of their homes shut that day from 9 am to noon in view of the team engaged against the stray cats in the complex.