Hundreds gather at Freedom Park to protest illegal treatment of stray dogs

A large number of animal lovers gathered at Freedom Park, in the heart of the city, on Sunday to protest against the illegal picking up, caging, and poisoning of stray dogs across the country over the past few weeks.

The protest was part of the Bengaluru chapter of the nationwide Do or Die campaign.

Harini Raghavan, founder of Citizens for Animal Birth Control (ABC), said, “Most dog-bites happen because there are limited or no ABC efforts. The ABC failures lead to dog-bites. We cannot penalise dogs for systemic failures.”

Manjari Chaitanya, founder trustee of South Bengaluru Cares, said, “This is not just about dogs. This is about governance failure and public safety. We demand that the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) give us a written assurance that they will stop illegally picking up dogs and throwing them into cages.”

The organisers also launched a WatchDog team that will act on the ground to stop illegal pick-ups, file police complaints , and legally pursue cases of cruelty.