Dog stuck in concrete dies, activists furious after viral video

“We received a call from a passerby who saw a dog in the most horrid situation. One of its legs were sealed under a layer of concrete at a construction site, even as the dog was still alive. The informer told us that the dog was still breathing despite being in pain and angst, but by the time our rescue team reached, the dog was no more. We suspect it was because of the torrential downpour; the water stagnation might have caused him to drown. Slowly, we broke the concrete and freed his leg,” said Dawn Williams, General Manager, Blue cross of India.

He added that they registered a case with the police and an investigation would be conducted. The dog’s body was sent to the government veterinary hospital for post-mortem.  

Dog lovers slammed corporation officials on social media for their shoddy work and apathy towards animals. “It is clear the construction workers did this on purpose. How can a dog’s leg get stuck like that and in that position? Hope it never happens to another animal,” posted Sujit on Facebook.

“This is one of the most disturbing things that I have seen in a long time. Evil walks among us and we must fight it. Don’t the Corporation workers feel guilty for this cruel act? People would have just passed by and none came forward to help the poor creature. They waited until the concrete was dry and for rescue team,” posted Akhil Narayanan in Instagram.

However, Corporation officials claimed that they were not aware of any such an incident. When contacted by DT Next, Ramesh Selvan, Zonal Officer for Zone 13 said, “We came to know about the incident and cleared the place immediately. We have to conduct further enquiries to find out what exactly happened.”

Speaking to this newspaper, Dr J Kamaal Hussain, Veterinary officer, Chennai Corporation said they are yet to receive a complaint. “If so, we will terminate the workers who were responsible,” he said.