Telangana Shocker: 500 Stray Dogs Culled After Panchayat Polls, Candidates Had Promised 'Dog-Free Village'; Investigation Underway

Kamareddy:  A shocking and disturbing incident has come to light from Telangana’s Hanamkonda and Kamareddy districts, where around 500 dogs were poisoned to death in the first two weeks of January. The state police have launched a detailed probe into the matter. Legal action has been initiated against 15 people, including seven village heads.

The suspects are accused of orchestrating a coordinated culling operation to fulfil a controversial local poll promise to rid the villages of the stray dog menace.

According to local media reports, during the recent Gram Panchayat elections, several candidates promised a “dog-free village” to residents frustrated by a spike in stray dog attacks.

The dogs were injected with a lethal substance that killed them on the spot. In a video of one such disturbing incident from the Dharmapuri municipality in Jagtiyal district, a man is seen injecting a dog with poison. Within a minute, the animal collapses. Two other dog carcasses are also visible on the street.

The incident comes to light a day after the Supreme Court took a stern view of what it described as an “institutional failure” in addressing the stray dog menace, warning state governments of “heavy compensation” for dog-bite injuries. However, the court reiterated that killing animals is an illegal and unacceptable “solution”.