Title change: Four individuals charged with a cognisable offence after dog abuse incident at Thane pet clinic

The Thane police in Maharashtra have registered a cognisable offence against four persons over an incident in which a dog was mercilessly beaten at a pet clinic in the city, an official said on Friday. Cognizable offences are those for which police may make arrests without a warrant and start a probe without a court order.

Earlier, a non-cognisable (NC) complaint was registered here after a video of the alleged assault on the canine went viral. Amid public outrage, the police on Thursday night registered a cognisable offence against three staffers and the owner of the pet clinic, under Indian Penal Code sections 429 (killing or maiming animals) and 511 (attempt to carry out an offence) read with section 34, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Shiv Sena MLA from Thane Pratap Sarnaik had said on Thursday that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also belongs to the city, had taken serious note of the dog abuse incident.

A video that went viral earlier this week showed two staffers of the pet clinic beating and kicking the Chow Chow breed dog.