Lisa Warden sent a message to the members of In support of Lisa Warden.
Dear dog lover
A horrible, callous and totally avoidable fate claimed a dog in Ahmedabad this weekend. In short, a street dog that happened to be in the basement of a shopping center was inadvertently locked inside by AMC workers who came to seal the building due to fire code violations. People became aware of the dog inside and asked the AMC to come back and let him out. They refused, and the dog eventually died of hunger and thirst.
I am urging you to express your disapproval/disgust/sheer nausea to the Municipal and Deputy Municipal Commissioners of Ahmedabad by emailing them at the email id’s below and to please cc. the Ahmedabad media group on your email as well. If you do not have time to write your own letter, please cut and paste the sample letter below into a fresh email, add your name and country under “Best regards”, and send it to the Municipal and Deputy Municipal Commissioners of Ahmedabad, IP Gautam and Capt Dilip Mahajan. Again, please cc. the Ahmedabad media list too.
Please circulate this to people you know who care about humane governance, and ask them to write to the AMC Commissioners, and cc the media addresses as well. We cannot let serial offenders like the AMC get away with yet more blatant cruelty. Only by voicing our disapproval loudly, directly to them and simultaneously to the media, will they realize that apart from being hideously cruel, their callous disregard for animals will not go unnoticed.
Thanks very much for speaking up for the dogs of Ahmedabad, especially for this poor one, who no longer has a voice.
Best regards,
Lisa Warden
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To: ipgautam@egovamc.com, dilipmahajan@gmail.com
cc. Ahmedabad media group:
ojas.mehta@timesgroup.com, ojasparva@gmail.com, ruturaj.j@gmail.com, pradeep.mallik@timesgroup.com, parimal.dabhi@expressindia.com, ie.parimal@gmail.com, vasundhara.vyas@gmail.com, kumarmanish9@gmail.com, bharat.desai@timesgroup.com, bharatmdesai@gmail.com, pfjohn@gmail.com shyam.parekh@gmail.com, shyam@dnaindia.net, niyati.rana@gmail.com, dbdng9@yahoo.co.in, pankajsadhu@hotmail.com, parul.jadeja@gtpl.net,ajayumatdb@gmail.com, parthivpatel@sandesh.com, shreyans1947@yahoo.in
To AMC Commissioner IP Gautam and AMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner Capt Dilip Mahajan
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
Dear Sirs,
I would like to register my outrage at the news of the cruel and unnecessary death of a street dog inadvertently locked by AMC workers into the basement of a shopping center in Ahmedabad (news reports below). The dog died an excruciating death from starvation and thirst over several days. That the AMC was notified repeatedly by concerned citizens who heard the dog’s anguished cries, and still refused to release the dog is inexcusable. And yet, after the dog died and the carcass began to rot, the AMC was able to find the motivation to send a squad to remove it.
The AMC has already gained notoriety internationally for its cruel treatment of street dogs and for its blatant flouting of Indian laws on the issue. That such callousness and cruelty continues to reign unchecked is of grave concern. Once again, the AMC has openly violated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. I urge you to prosecute forthwith the parties responsible for this disgrace.
Best regards,
Ahmedabad Mirror 28 November 2010
AMC SEALS DOG’ S FATE
A stray got trapped in the basement of a complex near Delhi Darwaza after AMC sealed it. Despite dog’s constant howls, officials did not release it. The result: it died
MEHUL JANI
http://www.facebook.com/l/2f72cgoWPVC9cCN1CdYQwQ-528A;www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20101128201011280302156212ca21886/-AMC-SEALS-DOG%E2%80%99S-FATE.html
Astray dog died in the basement of a commercial complex near Delhi Darwaza after the AMC sealed a block of the building for not installing fire safety equipment and creating adequate parking space this week.
For two days after block A of BG Tower, also known as Asha Shopping Centre, was locked up on November 22, the dog constantly barked and howled out of hunger and despondency.
Worried about the dog’s condition, people living nearby and shopkeepers in the building made several requests to civic authorities to open the basement and let it escape. Officials, however, did not budge, citing legal hassles.
What is more disturbing is that AMC’s men spotted the stray trapped in the basement on the day of the sealing drive itself, but they did not make attempts free it.
It is not known when exactly the dog died. Members of the building say it breathed its last either on Friday or Saturday.
“Today (Saturday) afternoon, I came to know that the dog had died. A few shopkeepers saw its body and informed me,” Ramesh Thakor of Asha Shopping Centre Owners’ Association (block A & B) told Mirror. “It is very unfortunate because we were concerned about the dog’s condition and had urged civic officials to free it.”
The stray suffered AMC’s apathy in life, and now even in death it is being neglected. After shop-owners found on Saturday that it had died, they requested AMC officials, who were on the premises to remove seal of an office, to open the basement so its body can be removed. However, officials again turned down their plea.
“They said once a seal was put, it cannot be opened until legal procedures were completed,” Thakor said. “The stench of the body is intolerable.”
After the dog was trapped in the basement on November 22, shopkeepers tried to feed it through spaces in the collapsible grill entrance. The animal, however, didn’t eat anything. It kept barking and howling as it was traumatised by the sudden loss of freedom.
“The AMC has the right to seal a property. However, it cannot risk lives of innocent animals. Won’t the AMC remove a seal if a human being gets trapped inside a building,” Shantilal Shah, who runs Manavta Seva Trust, said. Shah was among the group of people who requested the city administration on Saturday to open basement of Asha Shopping Centre.
“Civic officials could have saved the dog’s life had they shown some pliancy,” he said. “I fail to understand why they didn’t speed up legal procedures to release it. No law would come in the way if its about the life of an innocent animal.”
When Mirror contacted assistant TDO (central zone) Navin Patel, he conceded that members of the building sought removal of the seal from the basement on Saturday “We told them it cannot be done without the permission of the deputy municipal commissioner,” he said.
Dr Dayanand Chaudhary, a vet, said that street dogs suffer trauma in captivity. “They are used to roam around freely. If they are suddenly locked up in a place, they become aggressive and stop eating. At times, their nervous system fails in captivity, which leads to death,” he said.
He said a stray could survive without food for 10 to 15 days.
The dog suffered AMC’s apathy in life, and even in death it is being neglected. AMC has refused to open the seal to remove its body
Manavta Seva’s Shantilal Shah says AMC can seal properties, but can’t risk animals’ lives
They said once a seal was put, it cannot be opened until legal procedures were completed.
– Ramesh Thakor Asha Shopping Centre Owner’s Association
Shop-owners requested AMC officials to open the basement so the dog’s body can be removed, but their plea was turned down
http://www.facebook.com/l/2f72cNv8lo4FrKhc_n5uPIL6dCw;www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2010112920101129021026301d56dfc9/Civic-officials-remove-dead-dog.html
Ahmedabad Mirror 29 Nov 2010
Civic officials remove dead dog
The move follows AM’sreport highlighting the plight of a stray that got trapped in a basement sealed by AMC
AHMEDABAD MIRROR BUREAU
Ateam of the estate department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on Sunday morning went to Asha Shopping Centre to open the seal and remove the dog that had died the previous day.
According to shopkeepers in the neighbourhood, the team of four to six AMC officials came in the morning and removed the dead dog. They didn’t open the sealed main gate, instead they opened the seal of another gate to enter the premises.
“The dog would not have died if the officials had reacted in time. They came only after the report was published in Ahmedabad Mirror today (Sunday),” said a shopkeeper.
A stray dog died in the basement of BG Tower, also known as Asha shopping Centre, near Delhi Darwaza after AMC sealed a block of the building for not installing fire safety equipment and creating adequate parking space.
For two days the dog constantly barked and howled due to hunger and despondency. Worried about the dog’s condition, people living nearby and shopkeepers in the building made several requests to civic authorities to open the basement and let it escape. Officials, however, did not budge, citing legal hassles.
