kochi the city has become an unfriendly place for canines as more and more residents are abandoning their dogs in public places and making the lives of mans best friend more miserable there are groups operating in the city helping owners to kill their dogs according to rough estimates provided by the cochin pet hospital in the city over 100 pedigreed and crossbred dogs were found abandoned with injuries over the last three years in the city people have become insensitive to their pets mainly dogs they go to any extent to rid themselves of such pets said cochin pet hospital director dr k sooraj in most cases such abandoned dogs have been found to be pedigreed and healthy owners just discard them if they get bored or decide to relocate to other cities the doctor said even shifting from a house to an apartment was cited as a reason to abandon dogs he added last week three dogs including a german shepherd were rescued from the streets after they were abandoned though treatment was given to these dogs the fiveyearold german shepherd died on friday from a cardiac arrest it is cruel to abandon dogs in recent days there is an increase in the number of such dogs in the city people first own a dog as a status symbol and then discard them said b pradeep kumar who recently rescued three dogs from the streets according to police sources there are groups in the city who take up the task of eliminating dogs people resort to this cruel method as it is quite expensive to shelter old dogs in pet clubs and other pet hospitals one need to pay rs 350 per day at a pet hospital or clubs to take care of old dogs said kumar earlier there were incidents of gangs stealing good breeds from various residences in the city police had launched a probe into such incidents and nabbed two youths who were a part of the gang that was into stealing breeds such as labradors dobermans rottweilers and boxers though the gang robbed the dog of former kerala high court justice k narayana kurup from his residence recently police managed to trace it back