Voices raised against cruelty towards DU campus cats

Following two incidents of cats being killed at two halls of Dhaka University, students started raising their voices protesting brutality against cats on campus.

Earlier, four kittens were found with their throats slit near the pond of Bangabandhu hall and another cat was found dead, at Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib hall.

Jahid Hasan, a resident of Kabi Jashim Uddin Hall, said, " Yesterday, when I was going to tuition, I saw those kittens playing in the hall garden and I decided to write a post on Facebook so that someone could adopt those. But later I forgot about it. This morning, when I saw a Facebook post about those kittens being killed, I was shocked."

Students also raised awareness on cruelty to cats and demanded punishment for the perpetrators.

Asif Mahmud, a post graduate student of the university said, "There is no regulatory board to control cats or dogs. If the number of cats is increasing, then it should be controlled systematically. Killing can never be a solution."

"I think the university authorities should pay attention to these animals and create a team within the university to look after them," he added.

Contacted, Shahin Khan, provost of Kabi Jasimuddin Hall, said, "I don't know whether these cats were of our halls. But whoever did this, did a very heinous thing that calls for strong punishment."

Meanwhile, resident authorities of Bangamata Hall and Bangladesh-Kuwait Moitri Hall recently posted notices asking the city cooperation to catch cats from the hall premises, as some of the students were disturbed by them.

A student named Nawrin wrote (about the notice from Bangamata hall), on her Facebook timeline: "No one is insisting those who do not like animals should love animals. The cats and dogs just eat our leftovers and live around the premises of our halls, sometimes they walk in our corridors in search of food. Is it a disturbance? Is it a valid reason to vilify them?"