Koparkhairane pet groomer caught hitting dogs in CCTV footage, booked
Police have booked a 20-year-old man who worked as a groomer in a pet care centre after the owner found that he had allegedly been assaulting the pets there
NAVI MUMBAI: The Koparkhairane police have booked a 20-year-old man who worked as a groomer in a local pet care centre after the owner found that he had allegedly been assaulting the pets there. The owner of the centre, Lalima Thakur, had checked the CCTV footage on a suspicion that the staffer, Dilip Kumar Sahu alias Rishi Sahu, had stolen money from the place—which was how she stumbled upon the fact that Sahu had been brutalising the pets.
“The issue of money being stolen paled into insignificance after I saw the chilling footage,” said Thakur. “Being a pet lover and a pet owner myself, it was unbearable for me to watch it. My partner and I are both extremely fond of pets, and that is the reason we were in this business. I knew Sahu for around five years, as he had groomed my dog at his previous workplace and also used to take my dog for walks. Since we trusted him, we decided to start this business and employ him.”
The footage found was from February 6, 2024, 9.30 am to March 18, 3.15 pm. Sahu is seen assaulting seven different dogs with a wooden stick, belt and iron chain and is even seen punching the dogs and throwing them on the table.
After finding the footage, Thakur immediately terminated Sahu’s services last week with a letter which he signed, accepting his deeds. “When asked why he assaulted the pets, he said it was because they barked and peed a lot,” said Thakur, who then shut her business and took legal advice from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She approached the Koparkhairane police and registered the case against Sahu on April 8.
“We don’t care about the business; all we want is justice for the pets who had to undergo this trauma,” said Thakur. “We also want to make sure that Sahu is never let near any pet in future, and thus we have posted about the incident and shared the footage with customers and other people. We will not restart the business till we find a professional, trained person.”
Senior police inspector Audumbar Patil said they would now approach the customers who owned the assaulted dogs, procure certificates from their vets and then file a chargesheet. Sahu has been booked under sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
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