New Delhi:

An elderly couple in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar left their dog in charge of a Noida-based pet boarding before travelling to Vadodara to meet their son. Little did they know that it was the last time they would see their pet. The dog, Milo, is dead and a chilling video showing two bike-borne dragging him by the leash will forever haunt the family.

Nivedita Ghosh has filed a police complaint against Swati Sharma, who runs the pet boarding Paw’s Point, accusing her of negligence. The Ghosh family says that a day before they returned to Delhi, Ms Sharma called and offered a complimentary grooming session for Milo. Ms Ghosh agreed. The next day, after they returned, they received another call from Ms Sharma. She said the dog ran away while being taken back to the pet boarding after grooming.

The family reached the location in Noida’s Sector 119 where Milo went missing and started searching. When they could not locate him, they filed a police complaint. An FIR was registered against Ms Sharma under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. When local residents were questioned and CCTV footage from the vicinity was found, a chilling video came to light. It showed two persons on a bike dragging Milo by the leash. The family has alleged one of them is a staff of the pet boarding. They have said Milo was made to run beside the bike. At some point, the dog broke free and ran away. He was found dead the next day, presumably due to a road accident.

The family is devastated and has accused the pet boarding of negligence that led to Milo’s death.

“This has crushed us as a family. Milo was beaten up, and dragged by the leash on a busy road while two men were riding the bike. We just cannot come to terms with what happened. We are shattered and completely broken. We left him in their charge, trusting them to keep him safe and we found him dead. Paw’s Point charges Rs 600 for a day and this is the way they take care of our loved pets. They are saying Milo jumped out of a car. How can a dog do that? There was no car, he was being dragged with the bike. His leash was handed over to us as a token,” Ms Ghosh told NDTV. She also said the family kept asking Ms Sharma to show CCTV footage of the pet boarding when Milo was there, but she refused.

Pictures of Milo have been circulated on social media, with many pet parents and animal welfare organisations demanding strict punishment against the pet boarding. 

When NDTV contacted Swati Sharma, who runs Paw’s Point, she denied that the two persons on the bike seen dragging the dog by the leash were pet boarding staff. “I was driving the dog back after grooming. I forgot to child-lock the car and the dog rolled down the windows and jumped. I knew those two persons and asked them to catch him. They did. Yes, one of them beat it up, but what could he do if the dog was aggressive? Then the dog escaped. We were with the family when they looked for it. It was I who informed them when we found the body. People have already declared that we murdered the dog. I haven’t even charged them for the 17-day stay,” she said.