In a case of sheer animal cruelty, 16 dead puppies were found on Sunday outside the premises of Nil Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College in Kolkata.
News18 quoted one of the students of the college, Mainik Das, as saying that two female nursing students beat the puppies with rods. A video, showing two women beating up the puppies, has also surfaced giving rise to suspicion that they are responsible for the deaths. Police, however, has not identified the culprits yet.
According to The Times of India, 17 puppies — and a dog — were found tied up in three disposable bags. The dog tore open the plastic bag and jumped out, prompting locals to open the other dumped bags, the report added.
Two of the puppies, who were still breathing then, were rushed to a veterinary clinic, but one of them died soon after.
The incident has caused widespread outrage with animal rights activists condemning it.
“This shows the brutality of our society and the mindset. How can someone kill so many innocent puppies? There should a proper investigation in the matter,” Debasis Chakrabarti of Compassionate Crusaders Trust (a non-profit Animal Welfare Charitable Trust) was quoted as saying in the News18 report.
Police has lodged an FIR against “unknown persons” and is scanning CCTV footage for any leads, The Times of India report added. The bodies have also been sent for a post-mortem examination.
NRS college has also initiated an inquiry.