Doctor gets back pet dog on promise of ‘no cruelty’

While giving Singh the custody of Robin, Chief Judicial Magistrate Anubhav Sharma, however, rejected his allegation of theft against SPCA officials.

The court also ordered that if Dr Singh committed any act of cruelty on the dog, he would be liable under law.

Dr Singh had given a complaint in March last year against Neeru Sidhu and Nandini of SPCA, and two unknown persons, acccusing them of slealing his dog. He said that the SHO of the Sector 17 police station did not take any action on his complaint.

He alleged that on October 12, 2013, the SPCA officials took away Robin from his residence while he was busy with his niece’s wedding. He had bought the dog in June 2013 for the security of his house and family because he often had to travel for conducting research on fossils.

It turned out that the SPCA had swung into action after Veena Khari, a resident of the same locality, gave a complaint that Dr Singh was not taking good care of the dog. She alleged that the dog was left alone for days together.

The SPCA got the dog medically examined and reportedly found its condition was not good. A show-cause notice was given to Dr Singh, but there was no improvement in  the dog’s condition, it was alleged. Finally, the SPCA took the dog away.

Dr Singh then gave a complaint to the police against SPCA officials.

After the police did not take action on his complaint, Dr Singh aproached court, accusing SPCA officials of house trespass, theft, mischief and criminal conspiracy.

In July last year, the court gave the custody of dog to Veena Khari for the duration of the trial.

In his cross-examination, Dr Singh was confronted with the pictures taken on October 12, 2013 when the possession of the dog was taken by SPCA.

He admitted that he himself had handed the leash of the dog to SPCA officials.

The court also found that the allegation of ill-treatment of the dog by Dr Singh could not be proved.

In his order on Tuesday, the CJM said, “The dog will be first medically examined by a veterinary surgeon and then the custody will be handed to the complainant. The process shall be completed in the presence of the SHO who will forward a report of completion to the court”.

Robin’s custody was handed over to Dr Singh on Wednesday after completing the formalities.