Kerala businessman thinks Maneka Gandhi has gone to the dogs with her strict pro-stray canine stand

Kochouseph Chittilappilly is now a household name in Kerala. Founder-Chairman and Managing Director of V-Guard Industries Ltd and a chain of amusement parks called Wonderla, he is well-known not only as a businessperson but also as a writer,philanthropist, humanist and public activist.

He hit headlines when he donated one of his kidneys to a truck driver, becoming the first depositor with the Kidney Federation of India (KFI). He hogged national attention again when he singlehandedly took on the trade union militancy in Kerala by himself unloading goods from a lorry on his factory premises.

He is now in the news for carrying on a relentless campaign against the aggravating stray dog menace in the state. Recently, he went on a 24-hour fast demanding the state Government to initiate steps to curb the stray dog menace. He dragged Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development and well-known animal rights activist, into the picture by alleging that a member of her staff had threatened him over phone against carrying on his activism against stray dogs.

Training his guns on Maneka Gandhi, Chittilappilly alleged that Gandhi’s love for stray dogs is to support pharmaceutical giants that are into the making of anti-rabies drugs. He further charged Maneka with supporting the `Boycott Kerala’ hate campaign that has gone viral online with the hashtag ‘#BoycottKerala’.

Pointing out the contradictions of a Union Minister supporting a campaign against an Indian state, Chittilappilly said he would soon file a petition in the Kerala High Court against Maneka Gandhi in this connection. “I have decided to seek legal action against the Union Minister for taking a pro-stray dog stance. It is condemnable that those entrusted to protect the citizens are turning a blind eye towards their plights,” he told media persons.

Maneka has been supporting the cause of animal lovers by expressing herself against killing stray dogs. She even sent a letter to Muvattupuzha Municipality expressing her concern over reports of killing of some violent stray dogs in the municipality.

Chittilappilly now plans to hold similar fasts against stray dog menace in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram in the near future. He is drawing overwhelming support from the common people and public luminaries. In some places, the public have got together under the banner of a new organisation called `Theruvu Naaya Unmoolana Sangham'(Action Council for Eradication of Stray Dogs). They want the Government to value human life more than that of dogs and lock up stray dogs in kennels.

Meanwhile, the worsening stray dog menace in Kerala is assuming political and legal dimensions. It’s a political hot potato for the forthcoming local bodies elections in the state. In many constituencies, voters have announced their decision to support only those candidates who give a firm undertaking to tackle the stray dog mencae once elected.

The political administration and the police are divided on how to tackle the stray dog menace. Some local bodies gave sanction to kill the rabid stray dogs. Then all hell broke loose as animal lovers raised a furore against the killing.

As dog menace continued, the state Cabinet gave its nod for killing violent stray dogs. But the state Director General of Police T P Senkumar took a contra view and warned that killing of stray dogs would attract prosecution. The police even registered cases against some of those who killed violent stray dags in Muvattupuzha.

Chittilappilly has come down heavily on DGP Senkumar also for acting against the decision of the state Cabinet that had approved killing of violent stray dogs.

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