After a Facebook post with pictures about a cat being tortured and dismembered body at Grant road in South Mumbai, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has announced a reward of up to Rs 50,000 to anyone providing proper information to identify and nab the perpetrator(s). Meet Ashar of PETA, India along with Ahimsa Fellow Shashikanth Purohit worked with the Mumbai police to register an FIR against an unknown person or persons.
Activist Sneha Visaria of Just Smile Charitable Trust had recently lodged an online complaint after getting to know about the brutality in Grant Road. A formal FIR was later lodged by Ashar and Purohit, against unknown persons.
“We first got to know about this incident through a Facebook post. However, after further inquiry, we realised that the person who found the cat's corpse was not willing to register an official complaint. Hence we worked with the Mumbai police to do so. We’re calling on anyone with information to come forward immediately to help cats and humans – because, as psychologists warn, violent people often move on from abusing animals to target humans,” said Ashar, who is PETA India Emergency Response Team Associate Manager.
He added: “If the culprit or culprits are not found, another cat or even a woman may be killed next.”
Team Peta pointed out that: "Research shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals are often repeated offenders who move on to hurting other animals or humans. In a study of domestic violence victims, 60% of women said that their abusive partners had harmed or killed their dogs or other animals."
Anyone with information about the perpetrator(s) is urged to contact PETA India’s animal emergency helpline on (0)9820122602 or e-mail info@petaindia.org. The informer’s identity will be kept confidential upon request.
