The pet dog, which was found abandoned in Kalwa, was bow-legged as it was never taken for a walk.A Thane resident was booked on Thursday night for abandoning his pet dog. Yogesh Ambre’s cover was blown when an animal activist, who the 40-year-old had earlier approached to find his dog a home, rescued the animal after it was found in a deserted area.Complainant Abhishek Soparkar, who is the co-founder of Youth Organisation in Defence of Animals (YODA), told Mirror that he was carrying out a vaccination drive with Vani Jhaveri, a veterinarian on March 23 when he received a call from Ambre. “He told us he was looking for a home for his eight-month-old German Shepherd dog. We visited his house in Majiwada Gaon in Thane and saw that he had another dog – a Labrador – besides the German Shepherd. Both dogs had been confined to a one-room kitchen apartment and had never been taken out,” said Soparkar.When Soparkar asked Ambre why the dogs weren’t taken out, he was told that the animals were ferocious. “The German Shepherd, named Swapnali, had poorly developed hind legs because of the lack of activity and due to the fact that the tiles in the flat were slippery,” said Soparkar, adding that Ambre asked him to find another home for Swapnali as he was unable to take care of her.For the next few days, Ambre kept calling Soparkar to check on the status of the new home for Swapanli.However, on March 29, Soparkar received a call from Savita Fernandes, an animal lover in Kharegaon in Kalwa, informing him of an abandoned German Shepherd. “I asked Savita to send me a photograph of the dog only to find a picture of Swapnali. I immediately recognised her because of the blue collar. To confirm if it was the same dog, I called Ambre and told him that a home had been found for Swapanli. He then told me that he did not need help as he had done the needful himself. This confirmed my doubts.Soparkar immediately approached the Kapurbawdi police, who registered a case of cruelty and abandonment against Ambre. He has been booked under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code. If proved guilty, he could face up to seven years in jail.Meanwhile, Swapnali has been placed in the foster care of YODA.