Hyderabad: As part of the ongoing search for abandoned Huskies, recently found deserted along the Shankarpally–Patancheru stretch on Hyderabad’s outskirts, the local police rescued three more dogs from the same area over the weekend, one of them a German Shepherd, taking the total number of dogs rescued so far to nine. Another dog was found dead on the first day of the search operation.“These dogs were also in extremely poor condition. They were dehydrated and feeble due to severe heat stress over the past 15 days,” said Harsh Kishor B from SWAN NGO, which, along with AASRA Foundation, has been carrying out the rescue work. “They are currently housed at our shelter, and we will soon send them for complete blood tests and treatment.”Animal rights activists said the rescue of a German Shepherd has raised suspicion that more dogs of a rare breed may have been abandoned in the vicinity. “We have leads about two more dogs, and the police are assisting with the search. We are keeping an eye out to see if these dogs are of other rare breeds as well,” said Harsh.The case first came to light on April 29 when some locals of Nandigaon village alerted activists about a pack of dogs wandering through scrublands. They alleged that 35 to 40 animals were offloaded from a truck that entered the area on the night of April 20. When rescuers reached the spot, they found five Huskies in a deplorable state, while one had died due to heatstroke. Some dogs, they claimed, had already been taken away by people living around the area.Man caught selling Husky puppiesEven as the search operation on the city outskirts continues, activists have raised a fresh alarm over the illegal breeding of Huskies after they caught a man selling three 33-day-old Husky puppies at a recent pet adoption drive at Necklace Road on Sunday. He was later handed over to the Lake police.“During interrogation, the man admitted that he was engaged in illegal breeding. However, we did not find any direct connection between the puppies and the ongoing Patancheru Husky abandonment case,” said B Chitti, circle inspector of the Lake Police Station. “Since it was the first offence, we let him go after issuing a warning. We will keep a close watch on him,” he added.Activists said that the man was allowed to take back the puppies as they still require their mother’s milk. “However, we have asked him to sterilise the mother immediately and put the puppies up for adoption in a few weeks,” said Gowri Vandana from AASRA Foundation, adding that the matter has also been reported to GHMC’s veterinary wing.
