Lohegaon police have registered a case against the founder and a trustee of an animal rescue and shelter centre after a woman alleged that the facility refused to return her seven dogs and demanded Rs3.5 lakh for handing them back.
The 39-year-old complainant, a resident of Lohegaon, told police that she had temporarily left the dogs at the shelter in January this year. When she later sought their return, the shelter’s office-bearers allegedly refused to hand over the animals, according to the complaint.
Police have registered the case under Sections 314 and 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Section 314 relates to dishonest misappropriation of property, while Section 316 concerns criminal breach of trust.
An officer from Lohegaon police said the woman alleged that the shelter founder and trustee abused and threatened her. The officer also said the duo allegedly demanded Rs3.5 lakh from her to return the dogs.
The allegations place the dispute within the largely informal space of pet boarding, rescue and shelter services, where ownership, temporary custody and the conditions for returning animals can become contested. In this case, the complainant has asserted that the dogs were left at the facility temporarily and that she later sought their return.
The police case does not establish the allegations against the shelter’s office-bearers. Investigators will have to examine the circumstances in which the dogs were handed over, any records maintained by the centre, communications between the parties and the basis of the alleged payment demand.
The complaint also raises questions about the safeguards available to pet owners when animals are placed in private or non-government shelters. The supplied police account does not specify whether the parties had a written custody arrangement, whether the shelter issued any receipt or whether the centre had formal operating rules governing the return of animals.
For the seven dogs, the immediate issue is their custody and welfare while the dispute is investigated. The available information does not state where the animals are currently being kept or whether police have taken any separate action concerning them.
Lohegaon police are investigating the allegations. Further details about the shelter’s response, the dogs’ present status and the next legal steps were not available in the information supplied.
