Political party workers gun down dog wrapped in rival party’s flag

In another heinous act of animal cruelty at the hands of political workers, a video has surfaced on social media showing supporters of a rival party shooting and killing a dog wrapped in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) flag.

The video surfaced on Twitter, which shows the helpless dog being shot mercilessly multiple times. The 45-second video begins with the camera focused on a white dog in the sand, wrapped in a PTI flag with two men speaking in a regional language.

The men can be seen holding a certain political party’s flag, which is not clearly visible. The video continues to show the dog sitting still while looking at the ground. One of the men pulls out a gun and fires a single shot into the dog. He then fires a second shot and then a third at the dog.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police arrested on Saturday morning the culprits involved in killing the animal. They even expressed gratitude to the social media users for highlighting the issue.

The incident had sparked an outrage among social media users, who took to Twitter to condemn this barbaric behavior. Some also identified flag that the shooters were holding in the video.

I think these are supporters of Adnan wazir of Qoomi watan party Halqa Pk 89 ,kp police Shud take immediate action pic.twitter.com/Pt6jK6a8QD

— Saleem khan (@Saleem00444Khan) July 27, 2018

Tried to avoid it but just saw a picture of the dog that was shot and wrapped in a PTI flag. Never felt this horrible.
Please donate and lend support to ACF, Edhi’s animal shelter, PAWS and other animal welfare groups.

— Shayan Naveed (@shayannaveed) July 27, 2018

Every single PTI supporter busy talking about politics/upcoming government should remember the dog was wrapped in their flag, clearly shows the hatred and violence for them. Someone wearing a PTI bandana could’ve been gunned down in the same way.

— Bilal. (@bohatkhabees) July 28, 2018

This is not the first time that these defenseless creatures have been used to target rival parties. The election fever gripped the entire country to the extent that even animals were not being spared by the parties and their supporters.

Few weeks ago, supporters of another political party tortured a donkey and painted ‘Nawaz’ over its body to prove a point against the opposing party. The non-governmental organisation working for animals, found the donkey in a critical condition. The donkey, which was later named 'Hero', succumbed to its injuries.

Action is not often taken against animal abusers in the country, Although there is The Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act, 1890, which has outdated punishments, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior on February 7 this year passed a bill titled 'The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill, 2018'. The bill seeks to increase the punishment levied on violators of the Act.

Before the passage of the bill, the fine for killing an animal with unnecessary cruelty was just Rs200. The current bill suggests this be increased to Rs300,000 along with imprisonment.