Out of the 188 dogs that IIT Madras had captured to sterilise and vaccinate a year back, 56 have died, confirmed the institute. The data was released by the institute on Sunday, October 17, after the Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian had visited the institute.

Subramanian, who is also the Saidapet MLA (the constituency under which this IIT falls) had visited the institute after Harish KB, an animal activist, had filed a police case against the institute for ill treatment of dogs. In July, EdexLive had reported that 45 dogs in the institute's enclosure had died. This was based on a response by the institute's Registrar to a PIL in the Madras High Court. 

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According to the latest data, 188 dogs were caught by the institute's administration in October 2020. While 56 dogs died, 14 were released and 29 were adopted. Two dogs had escaped the premises. "The institute says that these dogs died due to illness and old age. Most of them were aged between 8 and 10," said Subramanian. "The remaining 87 dogs were kept in a 10,000 square feet enclosure," he said, adding that nine people are taking care of the dogs now.

At the same time, he said that the administration's reason for building the enclosure was an increase in deer deaths. "They said that the number of deers that died has come down now," he said. "Dogs and deer are both important. Dogs have always been man's friend and it is important to protect them," he added.