No colony for animal lovers, pets

Increasing number of animal lovers in the city are facing harassment by members of their housing societies for giving food and shelter to strays and keeping pets at home.

Doctor Nandini Kulkarni, 60, a seasoned environmentalist, is scared for the life of her cats and two dogs. One of the dogs she adopted 5 years back after a watchman of her building Vikas Park CHS broke the dog’s back with a stick.

Kulkarni also has been feeding dogs in and around her society for more than seven years and she claims that ever since, she has been facing objection, humiliation and intimidation at the hands of the society’s managing committee. “They always come to me in groups and tell me to get these animals out of the society. This is after I have personally gotten each and every dog sterilized. Their animosity with me began around two years back when I fought them cutting trees without permission in our compound,” says Dr Kulkarni. After witnessing the death of a stray dog and a kitten within her building last year, she in vain tried to bring the attention of the authorities towards the cruelty animals face in her housing society.

Another resident of Vile Parle has had to move her house almost each year owing to the harassment she faced after rescuing and adopting 20 cats, who live with her. “There have been so many incidents where my cats have been injured. One of them was pushed off the seventh floor. I’m terri fied. People don’t take time to get down to insults and abuses. It’s like I’ve committed a grave sin”, said the 40-year-old pathologist, who will move to a new house in December as her landlord has decided to not extend her lease.

“Society related complaints about animal cruelty have increased greatly. Five years back we used to get one complaint a week, now we get one every day. The problem we face is the lack of any proof in most of these cases,” says JC Khanna, Secretary of the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Rights of animal lovers
An animal lover is protected under Article 51 A that deals with duties of every citizen, one of which is compassion towards all living creatures.

Article 19 deals with Right to Freedom of Occupation which states that citizens have the right to undertake any occupation, even if it is taking care of animals.

According to IPC section 503, intimidation is a cognisable offence and anyone who intimidates a person taking care of dogs or cats can be held without a warrant.