Bhubaneswar: A food stall owner in Cuttack district was arrested on Thursday on charges of cruelty to animals after local shopkeepers accused him of poisoning at least 20 street dogs over 3 days. Police said he was angry that some dogs pooped near his stall’s oven.
Ajay Kumar Sahu, a street food stall owner at Shankarpur village under Choudwar block of Cuttack district, has been arrested for killing the animals and criminal intimidation, said inspector Biranchi Narayan Pati of Choudwar police station.
Pati said villagers suspected something was amiss on Wednesday when they realised that 20 street dogs had died in a span of just three days. “Since the dogs usually roamed around Sahu’s shop, the villagers suspected him to be the accused as he had been furious at the dogs pooping around his oven,” said the police officer.
When confronted by the villagers, Sahu allegedly admitted that he killed the stray dogs and threatened the villagers. He told them that he mixed an insecticide used by farmers with some sweets and fed them to the dogs.
The shocking incident comes days after street food stall owners in Charampa town of Bhadrak district 100km away organised a community feast on Tuesday in memory of a mongrel they had taken care of for 13 years. The dog, who was affectionately called Champi by the stall owners, died on September 10.
Sushant Biswal, the stall owner who first adopted her, said Champi was going to be abandoned by her owners when he took her in.
“It was like no other dog in the area. I got her from a man 13 years ago when she injured one of his family members. I treated the mongrel as my daughter. It never mingled with other dogs and would prowl around my shop most of the time. At night it slept inside my shop while I downed the shutters. She was like a part of my family,” said Sushant Biswal earlier this week, standing near a framed photograph of the dog in front of his shop. Some other shopkeepers in the area also got their heads tonsured.
Biswal said the mongrel would not eat food thrown on the ground. “We would give it biryani, rassagola, roti or rice on a plate. Even if someone gave a biscuit, it would be put on a plate or else the dog would not touch it,” he said.