Tamil Nadu: Woman allegedly kills puppies in Tiruchirappalli, FIR registered

Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 7 (ANI): An FIR has been registered against a woman for allegedly killing puppies in Tiruchirappalli, raising serious concerns among animal rights activists about growing cruelty towards animals in the country.
Speaking to ANI, George, Secretary of Blue Cross of Trichy, said the woman allegedly smashed two puppies against a wall near their rescue centre, resulting in their immediate deaths.
"A lady smashed 2 puppies against a wall near our rescue centre. They also died. This is a very tragic incident. This shows increasing cruelty towards animals in this country. People have become very cruel nowadays. The main reason is the deteriorated mental health of the country. Many people are suffering from mental health issues. They're among us as normal people," George said.
He emphasised that animal cruelty is not a trivial matter and serves as a precursor to other serious crimes in society.
"This is not a simple thing. Animal cruelty is a base for many other crimes in the country. Those involved in animal crimes will be leading to crimes against handicapped people, children, old age and women. They're starting with animal cruelty. The government should take some concrete steps to stop this. It is a serious crime," he added.
George also noted that under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, Sections 428 and 429 dealt with crimes against animals, which have now been replaced by Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.
"According to BNS 2023, Section 325 prevents all these crimes against animals. Any crime against animals should be reported immediately," he said.
Ajay, a complainant and member of People for Animals, alleged that the accused threw three to four puppies against a wall in the neighbourhood on March 4.
"On 4th March, Meenakshi Mishra threw 3 to 4 puppies against a wall in the neighbourhood. We received this complaint through social media. We saw the dead bodies of the puppies. We found CCTV evidence that she committed some crimes against animals every week. She used to kill dogs and put them in a plastic cover and hang it over a tree," Ajay said.
He criticised the police for slow action in animal cruelty cases.
"The police are very slow here when it comes to animal cruelty. We have not received the FIR copy. People often commit this crime and freely roam," he added.
Animal rights activists have urged stricter enforcement of animal protection laws and quicker police response in such cases to prevent recurrence of such incidents. (ANI)