Daily Times

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police on Saturday claimed to have arrested two men accused of shooting a dog multiple times for ‘politically-motivated reasons’.

The police swung into action after a video clip two men shooting a dog wrapped in a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isaf (PTI) went viral on Twitter. Several users condemned the incident.

A series of tweets posted by an account claiming to be the official account of the KP Police Department said that police had acted on the matter after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

The suspects were arrested for “torturing, killing the animal and making [a] video of the shameful crime”.

The account also shared pictures of the two men, along with a confessional video of one of the arrested. The account also thanked social media users for “raising the issue”.

One of the arrested men, who identified himself as Umar, confessed that he was involved in the animal abuse incident. He told the police that he was exhorted by a man named Sayeen Ullah to torture the dog.

The animal abuse incident was the latest that came to light in the past month.

Earlier this month, animal rescue shelter Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation had shared pictures of a donkey, which was tortured by political workers presumably in reaction to a speech made by PTI Chairman Imran Khan regarding former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s supporters.

The donkey succumbed to injuries six days later.

On February 7, 2018, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior passed a bill titled “The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill, 2018”.

The bill seeks to increase the punishment levied on violators of the Act.

Before the passage of the bill, the fine for killing an animal with unnecessary cruelty was just Rs 200. The current bill suggests an increase in fine up to Rs 300,000 along with imprisonment.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.