Pune: Neighbours call cops because stray cat hunted a pigeon

Mehab Qureshi

Pune, May 20, 2020: During this forced lockdown, it has been tremendously difficult for humans to survive. With the shortage of food, grocery items and the sky touching rates, humanity has come to a halt. Not only humans, animals, especially stray animals, are eagerly waiting for their feeders to stroll in the night and feed them.

Farheen Makandar, a resident of Aundh road, is an animal lover. She feeds at least 20 dogs in this area daily and has a valid Dog feeder ID. Her love for animals can be confirmed by the fact that she has sterilized every stray cat so that the population can be controlled.

However, this story is about a stray cat. *This story has been dictated by Farheen and is directly being quoted.

What has happened?

Cats tend to hunt for birds or fishes. This started on the 21st of April when the stray cat who I feed daily brought the hunted pigeon and ate it in front of my door. Realizing that my neighbours would not like this, I started cleaning the area.

What next?

No, the issue didn’t stop there. My neighbours called the cops on me. Yes, you heard it right. Just because the cat hunted a pigeon police officials were called. Besides, I never feed the stray during the day time; I only do it late at night. So that nobody is disturbed and I make sure nothing is dirty or uncleaned.

What did Police officials do then?

Police official requested to settle down the matter and talked about relocating the cat. To which, I told them that relocating of cats is illegal. Also, this cat is a property of municipal corporation.

Was everything settled then?

No, it didn’t stop there, I posted all the clips on Facebook because I was afraid that today for a small thing they called the cops on me. I wanted people to know, especially those Animal lovers. Exactly around 10 pm in the night when my post started spreading my neighbours came to notice, they barged inside my home, threw my phone and got enraged on me. I cried for help.

Did you call the police officials?

Yes, I did. I was scared the police officials came, and I was told to go to the police station in the morning. Here comes the twist, my neighbours filed an NC complaint against me that I abused them. I have all the video footages of my neighbours barging into my house, but it been almost a month my FIR hasn’t been registered yet.

Will this stop your love for animals?

No, these animals can’t speak for themselves; they have equal rights to live as much as well do. I will not stop feeding and taking care of them.

What was your family reaction?

We are a middle-class family, my father has coronary heart disease, and my mother is also mostly unwell. But they have always supported me, my FIR that hasn’t been registered has broken my spirits.

Animal lovers are risking their lives during this lockdown so that they don’t starve. Hence, the message of peace, harmony and tolerance should be spread.