CHENNAI: Close to 150 dogs were found buried at Thamaraipakkam village in Tiruvallur district on Saturday. While five dogs were shot on Saturday, the rest were shot over the past few days, according to the Blue Cross of India. An FIR has been filed against panchayat president J Venkatesan, who allegedly employed six men, two to shoot and four to bury the dogs.

A resident of the village who saw two men shooting five dogs on Saturday informed Blue Cross volunteers after which an investigation was held. It revealed the shooting of dogs had been happening for a while. “We found nearly 150 dogs in shallow graves. Residents said some were thrown into a river nearby. A few children showed me the place where the dogs were buried,” said Dawn Williams, general manager, Blue Cross, Chennai.

On Saturday, 21 dogs were exhumed by Williams, a witness and another resident. “We couldn’t dig up all the bodies. I will be going to Thamaraipakkam again on Sunday,” he said.

M Gajendran, who claimed seeing the shooting, said two men were gunning down some five or six dogs in public. “When I asked why they were shooting the dogs, they said the panchayat president had ordered them to kill the dogs,” he said. Some residents told him about seeing such incidents throughout the week, he said.

Williams alleged that when he went to file a complaint at the Vengal police station, a few politicians in the area tried to convince him to settle the issue. “Around 30 people came to the station and tried to force a compromise over the issue,” he said.

A complaint has been filed against the panchayat president and six men under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the Arms Act. Williams said postmortem would be conducted at the Madras Veterinary College where the bodies of dogs were taken on Saturday night.

Police are yet to trace the panchayat president. They said the two men with the guns were narikuravas and it was difficult to identify the others. “We made inquiries, but all of them were passing the blame. We are carrying out an investigation and are looking for the panchayat president,” said sub-inspector D Paripurnam.