MUMBAI: A six-year-old female Indie pet dog, Waffle, was attacked by two larger sized pet dogs from the same housing society in south Mumbai recently, resulting her death. Waffle’s aggrieved owner, Deepti Jain, has lodged an FIR against the owner of the two pet dogs that attacked Waffle and their two handlers at the Agripada police station.
Police have booked the owner of the two larger sized dogs, Apurve Mehra, and two handlers Sagar and Anita mainly under IPC sections 289 and 337, for negligent conduct with respect to animals, causing probable danger and harm to others.
Talking to TOI, Jain said, “My Indie pet, Waffle, who was a rescued dog, was attacked very by Mehra’s larger dogs o in the afternoon of March 17 within our Planet Godrej building complex. Both the dogs – a female and a male – did not have any leash nor the mouth muzzles. Their handlers could not control them. They look like the Cane Corso breed (linked to Italian mastiff). My daughter who tried to protect Waffle was also injured by the two large dogs.”
Jain further added. “A few other pet owners in our society have also had some issues with regards to the aggressive behaviour of these two large dogs. They were kept in Goa earlier by the owner, but they were later shifted here. The death of our lovable and friendly pet, Waffle, has completely shaken and disturbed us.”
When TOI contacted the owner of the larger dogs, Mehra, he denied that his two pets are of the Cane Corso breed. “My female pet, Luna, is a mix of mastiff blood, but is not Cane Corso. The other male dog, Carbon, is a mix with Indie dog breeds. They have not had any incident (regarding dog attacks) until recently. Our dogs are leashed throughout the building complex, except in the dog park, where all the pet dogs are taken by their handlers. In the past, my handlers have told the owner (of Waffle) to wait before entering the dog park as my dogs were inside. Something similar happened on Sunday, and my dog Carbon attacked Waffle. I was not present at that time.”
Mehra added, “The death of Waffle has emotionally scarred us too and I did try to reach out to the Jain family to apologize for this dog attack. It is unfortunate.” He also stated that while walking dogs, the animal must not walk in front of their owner as that gives little time for the handlers to react in case the pet gets into a fight with any other dog.
Recently, the government of India had also come up with a list of ferocious breed dogs, which have been banned here. Animal rights activists such as PETA India have always reiterated that one must not breed or buy” dogs as trophy pets; instead it is better to adopt healthy Indian strays or Indies, which do need forever homes.
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