Overview
- The High Court’s single-judge bench led by Justice M Nagaprasanna set aside a magistrate’s April 25 order and directed the dogs to stay with welfare organisations on Wednesday.
- The case began when Peenya police rescued six Golden Retrievers and three Shih Tzus on February 18 after a PETA complaint and registered an FIR under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
- The court cited CCTV footage and photos showing repeated beatings and found the lower court’s return order to the owner 'shocks the conscience', calling it preposterous given the ongoing probe.
- PETA says it secured a relinquishment and had custody of the animals while seven of the nine dogs were adopted and two remain under CUPA’s care, but the owner denies the abuse and alleges the relinquishment was forged.
- The ruling emphasises animal dignity by rejecting a property-based view of animals and signals a judicial trend to keep accused abusers from regaining custody while criminal investigations and trials proceed.