Bengaluru: The high court has quashed a magistrate court order directing the return of nine rescued dogs — six Golden Retrievers and three Shih Tzus — to their original owner, KE Ramesh, who faces allegations of animal cruelty, repeated beatings and sexual abuse of the animals.Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order Wednesday while allowing a petition filed by PETA, which had challenged the magistrate court’s April 25, 2026 order in favour of the owner. Peenya police had registered a case against Ramesh in March this year.“A perusal of the magistrate’s order shocks the conscience of the court,” Justice Nagaprasanna observed. He noted that videos and photographs placed before the court appeared to show the owner repeatedly beating the dogs and treating them “like chattels that he can deal with as and how he wants.” The judge questioned how the lower court could have ordered the animals’ return despite such material on record.The court noted that the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of the dogs is still under way. “In such circumstances, the order directing the return of the dogs is, to say the least, preposterous,” the judge said, adding that the magistrate’s order “cannot sustain even for a minute” and deserved to be set aside.Animals entitled to dignity & protection: JudgeAllowing PETA’s petition, Justice Nagaprasanna underscored the legal and moral duty to protect animals from cruelty. Observing that animals are sentient beings capable of suffering and pain, he said the law no longer views them as mere property existing solely for human use, but as living beings entitled to dignity, compassion and protection.“The measure of a civilised society is reflected not only in how it treats fellow humans, but also in how it extends mercy and justice to voiceless creatures,” the judge noted. He added that cruelty to animals is not merely an injury to a sentient being but “a blemish upon the collective human conscience.”Emphasising that protecting animal life is not an act of charity, the judge said it is an affirmation of constitutional morality and a recognition that “the arc of justice must extend even to those who cannot knock at the doors of this court by themselves.”
