Agra: A pet dog died recently while being chained and locked in a car at Taj Mahal’s parking zone while his owners roamed the historic mausoleum.
The dog died as it tried to escape, unable to bear the heat. The vehicle was parked in a sun-scorched spot by his owners, who are from Haryana.
A video of the dead dog has gone viral on social media, and the pet is seen lying lifeless on the footboard between the front and rear seats.
The person making the video is heard exhorting people not to bring their pets to the Taj Mahal in this heat.
An attendant at the Western Gate parking – where the car was stationed – told ThePrint that the couple was asked by their guide not to leave the pet inside the car. He suggested that they keep it with a local shopkeeper for a small fee, but the owners carried on with their plan to abandon the dog in the car.
To let in some air, they merely lowered the rear window slightly, he said. The dog had died by the time they returned a couple of hours later.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Archana Singh told ThePrint that the pet owner Ajay Kumar was from Hisar and was visiting Taj Mahal with his father Rishi Pal and other family members.
The police were alerted to the unfortunate incident by parking manager Gajju Pradhan.
The team found that the dog had a chain around its neck. It seemed the animal tried to get out of the car as it was bothered by the heat. In the process, the chain got entangled in the handbrake of the car. As it struggled to escape, the chain tightened around its neck causing it to suffocate.
Singh said the car was taken into custody and a first information report filed against the dog’s owners under Section 11 (1) (i) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. A postmortem is being done to ascertain the exact cause of the dog’s death.
Also read: Tropical mammals are not immune to human activity: Study