Hyderabad: A shocking case of animal cruely has been reported from Tolichowki, where members of a gated community were photographed and filmed chasing, torturing and killing cats. Allegedly, the cats were choked with metal wires and placed in plastic sacks before being killed.

According to a report by TOI, the incident came to light after Humane Society International/India, an animal welfare organisation received the disturbing images and videos and was brought to the notice of the Director General of Police, Hyderabad.

In their letter to the DGP, the organisation wrote that the secretary of the Resident Welfare Association of the gated community issued a letter stating that a team was hired to catch stray cats and asked the residents to cooperate.

Managing director of HSI/India Alokparna Sengupta said that there has been a “rise in cruelty against street animals in affluent gated communities”. He added that the community justified the “removal” of the cats by saying that the animals were defecating in their gardens.

Speaking to TOI, one of the complainants said that the cats were eliminated because a few residents complained to the secretary on a WhatsApp group, that there was a cat menace in the community.

Clarifying that the cats were friendly and that they were being fed by a few residents, they told TOI that the people who were hired to catch the cats were promised Rs 500 for each feline that they caught. “They (the trappers) used steel ropes to catch the cats by their necks. The cats fell unconscious due to the pressure on their necks before they were put in plastic bags,” a resident told the news daily.

Sengupta of HSI/India argued that the community could have contacted an animal protection organisation to help in a humane manner.

Golconda Police station inspector K Chandra Shekar Reddy said that so far, they have not received any complaint in connection with the case. “Action will be taken if a complaint has been sent to the DGP,” he added.