Portugal Colonial - Chennai orders inquiry after dogs die at shelter; two veterinarians face action

The Greater Chennai Corporation began an inquiry on Tuesday into two veterinarians at the Kannammapet Animal Birth Control centre after animal-welfare campaigners alleged that negligent treatment and unsuccessful surgeries had caused several dogs to die. A senior official in the corporation’s veterinary department said three dogs cited by campaigners—one that died on Monday and two that died the previous month—had rabies but showed no symptoms, making the infections difficult for staff to identify.

Campaigners filed a complaint at Kannammapet police station on Tuesday over the death of a female dog that morning. Images shared with the complaint showed the animal bleeding heavily inside a cage with its intestines exposed. Activist E Martina, who submitted the complaint, said the dog had a transmissible venereal tumour and should not have undergone surgery. Shravan Krishnan, director of the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary, questioned how surgery came to be performed if the animals were rabid.

Krishnan also asked whether the corporation’s anti-rabies vaccination programme had failed and why the injured dog had not received treatment earlier. The corporation ordered the inquiry to examine the doctors’ conduct and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

R.Veloso--PC