In a rare move, Kerala High Court on July 2, has directed to rename the suo moto proceedings initiated by it for protection of animal rights in the state as "In Re: Bruno" in the memory of a dog Bruno that was beaten to death by three youngsters. A Division Bench of Justice Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath on July 2 directed the registry to rename the writ in memory of Bruno apart from using suggestions to promote animal welfare in the state. Bruno, a pet dog, was brutally tortured by hanging it on a fishhook in a boat and beaten to death in Vizhinjam of Thiruvananthapuram.

Sunil, Sylvester, and a minor from Adimalathura of the district were arrested on July 1 by the Vizhinjam police for the brutal act. "A writ petition has been initiated suo moto to monitor state action in reported instances of cruelty to animals as also to take stock of the measures adopted by the State Executive to effectuate the rights and freedom recognized as inherent in all animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act," the HC order on July 2 reads.

The HC on July 1 had registered a suo moto Public Interest Litigation to monitor state action in reported instances of cruelty to animals and in the matter of prevention of cruelty to animals. "To begin with, we direct the Registry to rename this writ petition as "In Re: Bruno (Suo Moto Public Interest Litigation Proceedings initiated by the High Court in the matter of executive and legislative inaction of the state government in the matter of Protection of Animal Rights," the court order reads.

"We feel that this would be a fitting tribute to the hapless dog that succumbed to acts of human cruelty and disturbed by which incident we had initiated those proceedings," it further reads. The owner of the dog, a black Labrador, had posted the visuals of the accused assaulting the dog on social media. The video, which was taken by a witness who sent it to Christuraj, showed that the dog was tied to a fishing hook in a boat. It can also be seen that the accused hit the animal with a stick. The accused even threw the dog into the sea.