Bengaluru Woman Arrested For Allegedly Killing 8 Puppies

A mother dog is missing her eight puppies in the Jalahalli West area in north-west Bengaluru. The puppies were all killed - dashed to death allegedly by a local woman a week ago. The woman claimed said she wanted to teach the mother dog a lesson, say animal activists who spoke to her.

The woman, Ponamma, was arrested today, and charged with cruelty to animals for the attack of March 15.

Harish KB of animal welfare group CUPA, who is also an authorised officer of the Animal Welfare Board of India, said it was one of the most horrible cases he had seen.

"We tried to meet the woman to ask why she did that. She said she wanted to teach a lesson to the mother dog, who was living a drain outside her house with the puppies," he said.

The attack had triggered shock and outrage in the area. Another animal lover, Tamanna, said, people who live in the area "need to be careful".

Some years ago, after a child was killed by street dogs, there had been panic in the city and reports of random dogs being killed.

Disturbing footage also came from Mandya district, where people were hired to kill dogs. But at the time, the parents of the child who died had told NDTV that all homeless dogs should not be killed as most were harmless.

The Bengaluru atrocity comes on the heels of the stabbing of street dogs and the killing of a puppy in New Delhi.

Recently, Kerala was also in the headline over the mass killing of dogs. Systematic culling and mass poisoning had been reported from various parts of the state. Residents claim this is meant to curb the stray dog menace.