Two pet dogs put to sleep after attack on lawyer in Pakistan
Owner to deposit Rs1 million to animals’ rescue centre; animal rights activists cry foul
The two pet dogs, which attacked and injured a senior lawyer in Karachi, were put to sleep on Monday. The injured lawyer, Mirza Akhtar Ali, had agreed to forgive the owner Humayun Ali Khan ‘in the name of God.’
Earlier, a session court of Karachi had recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to Khan, observing the owner had shown great negligence by not observing safety measures when the pet dogs were released from his house.
The out-of-court settlement reached between the two parties a couple of days earlier and according to the agreement:
The CCTV footage of the horrific incident on June 6 had gone viral after the attack. Later, Humayun Ali Khan the owner along with his dogs’ handlers, Fahad and Ali, was booked.
According to Khan, the incident took place because the handlers of the dogs had let them loose, left the lawyer injured on the road and made away with the dogs.
After the ‘compromise agreement’ reached between the owner and the lawyer, the police would dispose of the matter accordingly, an officer said.
Animal rights activists have criticised the decision, calling it insensitive and tragic to kill the dogs for the fault of their owner/caretakers.
Sanila Javed, a rights activist of Islamabad, said: “We are the most strange creatures on this planet, especially us Pakistani who have no love for any life except for ourselves, it is very inhumane.”
As part of the agreement, Humayun Khan tenders unconditional apology to Mirza Akhtar Ali for the hurt and injury caused to him, Humayun Khan and family will not keep at their home any dangerous or ferocious dogs as pets, the two dogs involved in the incident shall be euthanized/put down by a veterinarian immediately and Humayun Khan shall make a donation of Rs1,000,000 (Dh23,029) to the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation — ACF Animal Rescue.
A senior police officer SSP (Investigation) South Imran Mirza confirmed that the dogs were put to sleep by a veterinary clinic official in accordance with the agreement, and police were informed of the same.