The Karnataka government has initiated an inquiry into the affairs of Karuna Animal Shelter in Hebbal.
Located inside the Veterinary College Campus, it is run by Karuna Animal Welfare Association of Karnataka. It is the oldest such NGO in the city, active since 1916.
A committee is looking into charges of irregularities at the shelter.
The government appointed the committee in response to a letter dated 27 July, 2021, signed by 11 Bengalureans who demanded the shelter be shut down.
In the letter addressed to the department of animal husbandry and veterinary services, they say “irregular practices” at Karuna have led to unnatural animal deaths.
They also want to know why Karuna, which gets donations from public, demands money while taking in abandoned animals and giving them up for adoption.
Lead complainant Sujaya Jagadish has launched an online campaign in the meantime, demanding an overhaul of the management and an end to the alleged euthanasia of animals at the shelter.
Her petition, on change.org, has logged 3,773 signatures, and is aiming for the 5,000-mark.
According to Sujaya, Karuna’s irregularities have been common knowledge in animal welfare circles for decades but nobody had taken them head-on until now.
On July 27, the animal husbandry department had called a meeting with animal welfare NGOs and rescuers at Pashupalana Bhavan.
“When the NGOs were asked how many animals each could take in, participants started airing complaints against Karuna. That is when Dr Manjunath S Palegar from the department asked us to write a letter,” recalls Sujaya, who runs Save Our Animals Charitable Trust.
‘Dogs vanish’
Sujaya lists out the common grievances she has heard of against Karuna: ‘Animal lovers aren’t allowed to go past the reception area. They pay a huge fee for adoption even before the dog is shown to them. Karuna extracts money from people who come to surrender their pets. If pet parents change their mind, they aren’t allowed to take their dogs back. When animal rescuers struggle to get even one indie pup adopted, Karuna says dogs (from its shelter) are adopted overnight.”
25 to 30 of them for adoption every month.
The fears that dogs are being sold to breeders or euthanised was echoed by mechanical engineer and signatory to the letter, Levin Dasan.
He claims Karuna takes in even the healthy dogs — no questions asked, no counselling given.
“When I returned from a work trip in 2012, I found a stray dog near my home in Cooke Town missing. One of the residents, who did not like the dog, had called up Karuna and given it away by paying Rs 1,500. When I enquired about the dog over a call, the Karuna staff told me it had been adopted. When I went to the shelter the following day with the media, they changed the story and told me it had jumped over the wall and escaped,” says Dasan.
People not connected to the letter have also heard unflattering stories about Karuna, Metrolife learnt. Dilip Bafna, founder-trustee of Animal Rights Fund, which runs a shelter for dogs and pigeons in Kengeri, is one of them.
“I used to give rice, umbrellas and raincoats to the volunteers of Karuna 20 years ago. I stopped when I learnt they don’t treat animals well. Then 15-16 years ago, I followed a truck carrying a lot of dead animals from Karuna. They were dumped near a BBMP waste centre at Nelamangala. We complained to the BBMP but nothing happened,” he says.
He says his organisation only picks up sick, injured and abandoned animals and for free. “If people wish to pay (for stay and treatment), they may,” he says.
What Karuna says...
Karuna Shelter’s president Dr DT Jayaramaiah counters the allegations as ‘baseless’.
Dr B C Ramakrishna, a patron of the shelter, rubbished the charges that Karuna charges money to pick up animals.
“We are a charitable organisation. We run on donations from the public,” he says.
The shelter only accepts animals if they are suffering from incurable diseases or their owners are moving to a new city, he says.
Why don’t they allow visitors in? “Every organisation has a protocol. We let visitors in from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm, and 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm,” he says.
The management of Karuna says it bars people from meeting the pets they surrender for a reason. “It may confuse the animal whether to live here or with them,” he says.
He vehemently denies the charge that the shelter euthanises dogs.
Dr Jayaramaiah adds, “Because of our efforts, the BBMP has set up an electric crematorium for dogs in Sumanahalli.”
Earlier, Karuna had an arrangement with farmers of Doddaballapura to bury the carcasses in their farmlands. “But we did not euthanise the dogs,” he says.
Dr Jayaramaiah says social media has taken an upper hand in spreading stories about Karuna. “So we want to have a person to handle our social media,” he told Metrolife.
Charges against Karuna
Extracts money both for pet adoption and surrender.
Dogs go missing. Euthanised, suspect activists.
Pet lovers are not allowed inside the shelter.
Investigation so far
Dr R Narendra, president of Karnataka Veterinary Council, is heading the inquiry committee.
“The timeline is six months. We have charted out how to take the inquiry forward,” he told Metrolife. Last Tuesday, the committee visited the shelter and questioned the management.
Sujaya, who is spearheading the protests against Karuna, says those were forced to shell out money by the shelter can send receipts and other evidence to sheltercruelty@gmail.com.
Take note
82771 00200 is the 24/7 animal welfare helpline. It’s a Karnataka government initiative.