Tommy, the pet dog of the Burari family found dead on 1 July, is dead too. The dog, a mix-breed Indian Pitbull, was the last surviving ‘member’ of the Chundawat family whose 11 members were found dead at their home under mysterious circumstances.
Sanjay Mohapatra, a Noida-based animal rights activist who was taking care of the dog, said Tommy died at the animal shelter home due to “shock”. He was aged seven.
Tommy was tied to a grill on the terrace of the house before the family members allegedly committed suicide.
The dog, which had developed a fever, had stopped socialising following the incident, possibly due to the trauma of losing its masters. In the last few days, Tommy had shown signs of improvement and had gained weight.
“He had food around 4 pm. He was playing around and was taken for a walk by one of our employees around 5 pm. As Tommy was entering the gate after his walk, he suddenly collapsed. We brought him inside and the doctor examined him but he died,” Mohapatra said.
Both the Noida and Delhi Police were informed of the dog’s death.
Mohapatra also informed Prashant Singh Chundawat, the grandson of Narayan Devi, of Tommy’s death. Devi was the eldest member of the family that allegedly committed suicide. Her body was found on the floor, while remaining members were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling.
The activist said Tommy’s post-mortem was carried out on Monday morning at a district hospital in Noida and the doctors opined that he died of “shock”, which led to a cardiac arrest. Later, a pooja was performed and Tommy was laid to rest.
Prashant Chundawat had written an email to Mohapatra a few days ago, requesting him to “train the dog” so that they could take him home, and was regularly in touch with him about Tommy’s health.
The Chundawat family’s grandson, who works in Bangalore while his family stays in Kota, Rajasthan, said they were informed about Tommy’s death on Sunday.
“In all these years, we were not very attached to him. Whenever we would visit our Burari home, he would be tied upstairs since he was very aggressive. He was very close to my elder kaka (Bhavnesh, who was among the deceased),” he recalled.
However, after losing his family, Prashant Chundawat had decided that they would take him home.
The animal activist had learnt about the dog through news channels and then contacted the police. After completing the legal formalities, he had brought the dog to his animal care centre in Noida.
Initially, Tommy was quite aggressive but with love and care, he had started recuperating.
(With inputs from agencies.)