The president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Deepak Rathod has disputed a viral video that showed multiple dogs being dragged by a group of men in Ba.

Mr Rathod claimed that the video, filmed on December 8 which showed a group of men cruelly pulling the dogs tied at the neck with wires and rope to a vehicle, appeared to be “doctored.”

“I reviewed the video and was not sure that it was of actual incident(s),” Mr Rathod said.

“I think that the video was not what it was made out to be and appeared to be doctored to give a picture that the person who produced it wanted to convey.”

The video was the latest in a string of animal cruelty cases reported by the Fiji Sun. Cases documented in the middle of last year had disturbed and alarmed vets at the SPCA.

Maleeka Buksh, the animal welfare volunteer who took the video, rejected Mr Rathod’s view saying she had the original copies to prove the video’s authenticity.

“That’s insane,” Ms Buksh said, “I have all the originals to prove it (video’s authenticity).

“We followed the captors (a group of men) for a much longer period so we shortened the duration of the video. It’s not doctored but I’m not surprised he said that.

“To be frank, the SPCA has been around since the 1950s, but they don’t do any real physical welfare work; they’re running a business,” Ms Buksh said.

The video sparked widespread public anger when it first surfaced.

It shocked the then Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, Jitendra Singh, who called on the Police to come down hard on the offenders.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro labelled the treatment of the dogs “inhumane and illegal and said they have launched an investigation into the video.

The dogs which are said to have been stolen are usually kept in harrowing conditions, while most have their ears cut off with cane-knives without pain medication, the volunteer said.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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