Tamil Nadu police, on Friday, October 4, nabbed the man who had poisoned over 50 dogs in Tiruvallur District. Vetrivendhan (43) had mixed poison with food and fed it to over 50 street dogs in Tiruvallur municipality’s ASP Nagar, JR Nagar, Senthil Nagar, and other adjoining areas since September 2024.
Vetrivendhan has been booked under Section 325 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Section 11(1)(l) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960). He also has a murder case against him where investigation is pending, police said.
Ward 12 councillor Thomas (a) Rajkumar had previously told TNM that the killing of dogs has come as a surprise since there has been no recent complaints of rabid dogs in his ward. “The number of dead dogs that the sanitation workers have been recovering from my ward are alarming. On a day in the beginning of September, the workers found six dead dogs. Then on September 22, they found 12 dead dogs from the street. The total number is around 50 and I have informed the municipality,” he said.
A poisoned dog that was fighting for its life was also rescued and saved by the locals. “I took two dogs to a private veterinary hospital on September 22, in Perambur, Chennai, where the doctor confirmed that they were poisoned. One of the dogs died but I managed to save the other,” said Karthikeyan, a resident of ASP Nagar.
After residents and local councillors filed a CSR complaint with the police, the Tiruvallur District Superintendent of Police (DSP) formed two teams to nab the accused. While CCTV footage from September 21, showed an unidentified man serving poisoned food to dogs, the same man had once again, on October 1, poisoned another set of dogs who were also found dead on October 2.
Vetrivendhan was identified after the police questioned eyewitnesses.