Hyderabad: A family chained their pet Pomeranian

dog

in the balcony and left the house, condemning it to an agonizing death.

Shocked residents of Moti Nagar woke up to the horrific news that the family apparently left the dog to die. According to neighbours someone came to the flat and removed the dog’s carcass.

Authorities should order a probe and charge the guilty persons with animal cruelty. Awareness campaigns must be conducted involving communities and local vigilantes identified, who would report abuse of animals TimesView

But the gruesome killing was discovered first by

activists, who received a complaint from neighbours about a dog lying in an unconscious state after not being fed by the owners for several days.

“According to the photo evidence, it is clear that there was no one in the house when the dog died, while it was chained in the balcony,” said P Teja, an animal rights activist and a member of

(HSI) who visited spot after receiving the complaint.

“After some neighbours called the family informing that their dog was not moving, they first responded by saying that the dog might be sleeping and hung up the phone but managed to clear the body and clean the entire balcony the next morning,” said Teja.

Some neighbours, who stay in the same apartment informed that a woman and her husband living in the flat always ill-treated the dog and kept it chained in the balcony.

The harassment and abuse of the canine was happening, despite a written notice given to the couple staying in the flat by the apartment members.

“We had given them a written notice once saying that the balcony should be cleaned, and the dog should be given proper food, or we will complain to Blue Cross, but nothing changed,” said one of the neighbours.

The neighbours were also discussing the issue in their apartment’s WhatsApp group, but it was too late by the time they called for help.

One of the neighbours, Deepak, messaged in the WhatsApp group “Not just from past nine days, the dog has been kept chained in the balcony which was not cleaned from several days. We spoke to the resident almost a month ago, but nothing changed.”

The photograph of the dog being circulated on social media shows its lifeless body lying on the floor of the balcony.

“This is a clear case of animal abuse and cruelty. We are waiting for the neighbours who are the main witnesses to file a complaint with the police,” said Teja.