The police are searching for a man who abandoned his nine-year-old son and 26 dogs, including puppies, at a rented home in Kerala’s Tripunithura on Sunday. The incident came to light on Monday after the desperate child contacted his mother, who is working in Germany.
According to reports, the man had moved into the rented home at Tripunithura, suburbs of Kochi, with his son and the animals recently. He is said to have kept the animals with the intention of breeding and selling them, according to local media reports.
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However, the local people, irate at the melee caused by the dogs, had filed a compaint with the local municipality seeking intervention. Following this, Sudheesh Kumar abandoned the animals and the child. The boy and the animals were left reeling without water and food for the entire day. The child then contacted his mother, who alerted the police. Sudheesh and his wife were separated.
On arrival, the police found 26 dogs, each worth to be between ₹30,000 and ₹50,000. The child was sent to his relatives on Monday night.
Police said some of the dogs, especially the pregnant ones, broke out of the home and were wandering outside in search of food and water. Some of the locals, including members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), brought food and water for the starving dogs. Municipal workers moved the dogs to a shelter in Kandakkadav on Wednesday. "Residents were saying let the dogs die," SPCA president T.K. Sajeev alleged.
Authorities have served a notice to Sudheesh, who is still missing.