Pitbulls used for illegal wildlife hunting, Punjab man arrested on Maneka Gandhi’s intervention

The practice of rearing pitbull dogs for the illegal hunting of protected animal species and the use of social media videos to garner views and promote the act in Punjab has invited the wrath of animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi. Following her intervention, the Wildlife Department of Punjab has arrested a Rajpura-based man and taken two of his dogs in custody.

The Sadar Rajpura police have registered an FIR under Sections 9, 39 and 51 of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 2022) and arrested Ajay Kumar of Jansua village in Rajpura for allegedly training and using pitbulls to hunt wild animals, including porcupines.

“A complaint along with a pen drive was received by us from Maneka Gandhi’s office showing the Instagram account of the accused in which the accused is allegedly seen using his dogs to hunt a porcupine,” said Patiala Divisional Forest Officer (wildlife) Guramanpreet Singh. “The videos were later deleted by the accused. For us, it is important to know if he has been involved in hunting more animals and also, if the accused has been supplying the meat and other animal parts to others,” said the DFO.

Listed as endangered species, porcupines are protected under Indian Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and hence killing them is an offence. However, this animal that comes under the large rodent category is killed rampantly for its meat, in addition to the medicinal use of its bones and quills. Porcupines have sharp quills that they use to protect themselves from predators. “As soon as the letter was received, we pressed our team into action and the accused was identified and police were approached to arrest the accused,” stated the DFO.

Meanwhile the police took away two dogs — both of boxer breed — from the accused. “We think the accused got a whiff of the police raid and managed to shift the dogs to some other place. We will grill him and try to trace the dogs. Also, buyers of porcupine meat, if any, will be identified and strict action as per law will be taken against them,” said a senior police official.

Punjab