Disturbed by video: Aditya Thackeray pulls up Yuva Sena leader over puppy protest
The Worli MLA came down heavily on the protesters after seeing that they had stuffed the puppies into plastic sacks and tied them with ropes.
Abusing animals is a crime in Sena UBT leader Aditya Thackeray’s book. And it appears that, when it comes to crossing that line, being a member of his own party offers no special protection.
A day after a viral video showed a Yuva Sena (Sena UBT’s youth organisation) leader, along with his followers, releasing puppies on the table of Niphad Nagar Panchayat’s chief officer to protest against the alleged dog menace in the area, Thackeray disapproved of the unusual form of protest. The Worli MLA instead came down heavily on the protesters after seeing that they had stuffed the puppies into plastic sacks and tied them with ropes.
Thackeray, who had earlier protested against the cutting down of trees in the Aarey forest area to make way for the Mumbai Metro Line 3 car shed and has established himself as an environmental activist in Maharashtra, wrote on X, “The protest should NOT have had the dogs being handled in such a manner. I have been equally disturbed by the video and have issued a stern warning to the office bearer, along with asking him to apologise and to not conduct the protests in such a manner.”
Thackeray, who had earlier served as the Environment and Climate Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led cabinet, then clarified that the Sena UBT’s party line does not approve of what Vikram Randhave did with the puppies.
He also said that Randhave had apologised for manhandling the dogs.
The controversy erupted after Randhave and his supporters staged an unusual protest at the Niphad Nagar Panchayat office over the growing stray dog problem in the area. As part of the protest, they brought several puppies into the office and released them on the chief officer’s table.
Speaking to the press, Randhave alleged that incidents of stray dogs biting residents had been increasing in the locality. He also claimed that the problem continued during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, with fear of dog attacks discouraging some people from visiting Ganesh mandals.
However, footage of the protest showed the puppies being carried inside plastic sacks before they were released in the office. The animals appeared frightened as they were taken out, prompting criticism over the way they had been handled. The visuals raised massive concerns over the ill-treatment of the animals.
By disapproving of Randhave’s actions and asking him to apologise, Thackeray has lent weight to those concerns while making it clear that the manhandling of animals will not be tolerated, even when such an action is intended to serve the interests of his own party.