Police have managed to mark some of the carcasses.

NAVI MUMBAI: Nearly 30 local community dogs have been poisoned to death at Morbe village in Panvel taluka by unknown persons in the past four days.

The animal cruelty was systematically committed at the garbage dump, close to the village water tank, by mixing some poisonous chemical in pieces of meat.

Shocked animal welfare workers said that most of the dogs died an agonizingly painful death after eating the poison-laced meat.

Among the victims was a popular and friendly female dog that had recently given birth to five puppies.

Panvel based activist Sunil Bhoir said, "We are very disturbed to see how healthy dogs have been killed en masse at Morbe, although there are animal protection laws in place. Many of these dogs were taken care of by the local tribal families staying close to the village water tank while others were adopted by other local residents in the village and adjoining Dwarka housing complex. We have given a written application to the Panvel taluka police station on Saturday and have demanded a post-mortem to be conducted so that the culprits can be punished".

Heartbroken animal lovers at the village have already buried some of the bodies but the local police have managed to mark some of the carcasses which were due to the mass poisoning .

"Every village gram panchayat must follow the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme by utilising their public funds to sterilize the local community animals like dogs, cats. Sterilization is the only humane and legal way to control the dog population. It is horrid and unimaginable to see dogs being poisoned as they die slowly while crying in pain for hours till they breathe their last," said another animal welfare worker from Panvel.

The Panvel taluka police sub-inspector Sanjay Chavan said, "A complaint regarding the killing of dozens of dogs in Morbe area has been received. Our police team during spot visit on Saturday found bodies of few dogs. Various aspects of dog killing, poisoning, etc are being investigated".

Navi Mumbai based animal welfare activists have also been regularly observing the 'Poison Biscuit Day' on July 9; because on this day in the year 2008, over 60 local dogs were fatally poisoned in and around Nerul. Many activists had also alleged that the local municipality had carried out the mass murders of dogs in Nerul at the behest of some politicians; however, this could not be proven and so the case did not proceed further.

"While no one was booked for the poisoning of the Nerul dogs in July 2008, the local dogs who died are still remembered by the city animal lovers during Poison Biscuit Day. We curse those who were part of such horrible animal cruelty," said a city activist.

