Thane: Hawaiian society fines resident ₹5.5 lakh for walking dogs

Maharashtra : A dog rescuer in Thane has been fined a hefty Rs 5.5 lakh by his housing society for taking his dogs for walks. While the society has officially passed a resolution to impose a penalty on the rescuer for taking the dogs for walks, citing the nuisance created by the dogs, he alleged that the society’s managing committee was harassing him on the instructions of a “dog hater” member.

For Subhajit Bhattacharya, a resident of Hawaiian Village Co-op Housing Society on Ghodbunder Road in Thane, the maintenance bill of Rs 5.71 lakh for the month of May came as a shocker. Looking at the details of the bill, which included miscellaneous charges of Rs 5.14 lakh, he immediately realised that this hefty amount was for taking his rescued dogs for walks, an activity that the society has banned only for him.

Bhattacharya runs a dog shelter NGO called ‘Shades of Kindness Foundation’ from his home, which houses 20 dogs, most of them paraplegic. Though his animal welfare activities have been going on for over 15 years, he alleged that the harassment from the society started soon after he joined here a year and a half ago. A special general meeting held by the society on February 9 unanimously passed a resolution to specifically impose a fine on Bhattacharya for “unauthorised activities on the society premises”. A five-member team was also formed to ensure compliance and relocation of the activity within 30 days.