Thiruvananthapuram: Activists from various organisations met in front of the Secretariat to register their protest against culling of dogs through a candlelight vigil. They demanded that the offenders be reined in with stricter laws. The penalty prescribed in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is a fine of Rs 50 for first-time offenders, according to Latha I, trustee, People for Animals. “We have been raising the issue for a long time now. For repeat offenders the punishment can be up to 6 months of imprisonment. However, now the authorities are not even registering cases when the offenders cull for a second or a third time,” she said.
In many of the recent cases of culling, local body representatives would be offenders themselves. Gandhi Global Foundation President Attingal Vijayakumar said, “People’s representatives who take part in these killings are not eligible to be leaders. They should be asked to step down,” he said. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Department of Education should prosecute Jose Maveli, who was leading a campaign to kill strays, Vijayakumar said, because he had involved school children in his campaign which promotes cruelty to animals. The vigil was organised by Gandhi Global Foundation, Save Dog Save Street, People For Animals and Raksha. Siluvamma and Raghavan, who were killed in stray dog attacks, were remembered.
