GHAZIABAD: A 66-year-old retired vice-president of a private firm has been booked by Ghaziabad police for allegedly trying to get rid of 13 stray dogs from a gated residential colony in Sanjay Nagar. However, Sudhir Dhamija, also a local RWA member, has refuted the allegation.Police said on Friday that an FIR was registered against Dhamija on Thursday evening under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, on the basis of a complaint by animal rights organisation, People for Animals, that got the information from a local resident.As per Section 11 of PCA Act, abandoning any animal for any reason can land one in prison for up to three months.According to the complainant, Babusha Chaudhary, a local resident and a member of PFA, “Around 11 am on July 1, the 13 dogs of the society were tied up in plastic sacks on Dhamija’s order. I fortunately spotted them while the dogs were being put in a pick-up van. Along with one of my friends, I freed them and informed the police control room.”Chaudhary, who feed the dogs in the society, said a puppy died on the way to a veterinary hospital in Delhi on the same day. PFA president Sumeidha Iyer said:“Barring just one dog, all dogs in the society were sterilised and vaccinated a long time back.”Dhamija claimed that the residents of the gated society, which has 43 duplex houses, have been living in “terror” because of stray dogs. “There are several cases of dog bites in the society and it was a collective decision to remove them from the locality. However, I was not present when the incident took place. I don’t know why my name is being dragged into this ,” he added.

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