Kolkata: An incident of harassment and attempted assault on a dog lover was reported in the Tiljala area of southeast Kolkata. A local resident, Rose Mary Halder, claims she was subjected to aggressive resistance and verbal abuse for feeding stray dogs. It was also threatened that the strays would be poisoned if they were found eating at the flat entrance.The incident, which took place over a period of time, with the attack occurring on Nov 2, highlights ongoing tensions between animal lovers and a section of locals who claim that feeding strays is soiling the area and blocking their entrances.According to Halder (48), who resides at Sridhar Roy Road and is actively involved in feeding and planning to sterilise local community dogs, she has faced continuous opposition from two neighbours and their families. They have warned her to stop feeding dogs, claiming that since they reside on the ground floor—Halder is a resident of the first floor—they bear the brunt of the “unhygienic situation” at the flat entrance where Halder feeds the dogs.Halder says, the confrontation escalated around 10 pm when she went to the designated feeding spot to provide food for the dogs. Despite her efforts to maintain cleanliness and avoid inconvenience to other residents by preparing food packets and plates and then cleaning up the space, one of the two neighbours allegedly approached her aggressively, verbally abusing her and accusing her of immoral activities to fund the feeding of the dogs.The situation intensified when this neighbour reportedly pulled the food packets from Halder’s hands and threw them into a drain, continuing her verbal tirade. Halder claims that the woman then attempted to physically assault her by pushing her multiple times. Halder dodged the attacks and decided to retreat to her apartment. The accused allegedly followed Halder to her residence, threatening to poison the community dogs if she did not cease her feeding activities immediately. When contacted, the accused refuted all allegations.Halder has formally lodged an FIR.
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