Baneswar Shau, 50, an employee of the Howrah Jute Mill in Howrah, India, was on June 27, 2014 allegedly beaten to death by neighbor Sambu Bag while feeding stray dogs late at night. Bag was charged with his murder.
Reported Rupak Banerjee of the Times News Network, “The killing is the second such in Howrah in just five weeks. On May 19, Howrah Municipal Corporation employee Nawraj Singh was beaten to death by a neighbor after he rescued and brought home a pigeon.
“Shau lived with wife Rina and daughter Kankana,” Banerjee wrote. “He would keep a portion of his salary aside and created a fund to take care of stray dogs. He not only fed strays in the neighborhood but also took them to the vet regularly.”
Bag reportedly accused Shau of causing barking that kept him awake at night, and of increasing the local dog population.
A similar thing was in the news during my time in Istanbul (2007-2012). In that case, a married pregnant woman was taking care of a street dog in front of her apartment building. (Note: Istanbul has about 60,000 street dogs and half a million street cats. Many Istanbul residents feed these animals, though only a very tiny minority does anything about medical treatment or spay/neuter).
The woman had constructed a shelter for the dog and was bringing food and water to the dog daily. A male neighbor got into an argument with her and told her to stop “encouraging” the dog to stay near the apartment.. When her husband came out and intervened, the neighbor stabbed the husband AND the dog to death.
It’s dreadful to think of the heartless maniacs living loose in this world. They kill some of the best people.