Ranjini Haridas, superstar of Malayalam Television, is in trouble for challenging the authorities who ordered the culling of community dogs in Ernakulam. Sajitha Thankappan, chairperson, Thrikkakkara Municipal Council, a Kochi suburb,  has filed a police complaint against Haridas for staging a demonstration in front of the local body office accompanied by animal lovers and community dogs.

A sobbing Haridas was shown carrying her pet, a mongrel, and offering homages by lighting candles to more than hundreds of dogs which were culled by the local body authorities who had hired the services of professionals from Kozhikode to perform the execution.

What opened the pandora’s box was the culling of two street dogs in Thrikkakkara by the hangmen and which was shot live by an associate of Haridas. Haridas has an organisation named Home for Animals which takes care of the community and stray dogs.

Based on the video recording and the complaint of Haridas, the police arrested three men from Kozhikode. The arrested persons confessed to the police that they were hired by the municipal council and were given Rs 500 per dog for culling.

The carcasses of the dogs were thrown into the dumping yard of the municipal council. When Haridas and  her associates examined the yard, they were shocked to see carcass of more than 30 dogs. “This has been going on for some time and this is the most unscientific manner of controlling the community dogs.  The Government has enough funds to subject the animals to sterilization and administer them anti-rabies vaccine which would cool down their  aggressive nature. There are laws that stipulate that the local bodies should have their own community sheds to accommodate the dogs. But these are violated openly and they choose the easy way out, the culling,” said Haridas.

Ranjini Haridas, a leading social activist in the State, pointed out that this was not the first time such things were happening in Kerala.

“Sometime back, we saw community dogs being used as targets for certain people to hone their skills in using swords and knives. Mutilated bodies of dogs were strewn along the roads in Northern Kerala which had caused embarrassment to the State,” said the most sought after TV personality in all functions organised by Malayalis across the world.   

Meanwhile the junior health inspector of the Municipal Council has approached the Kerala High Court seeking a directive from the court to the police not to arrest the former.

 The statement given by the arrested persons, the video recording of the culling and the official documents are all against the Local Body Rulers.