Burari Deaths: Last Remaining Member, Pet Dog Tommy, Dies

After all human members of his family were found dead, a bereft Tommy was taken in by a Noida animal shelter.

A family of 11 were found dead in a house in North Delhi’s Burari on Sunday, 1 July.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

Tommy, the pet dog and only remaining member of the Burari family, whose 11 members were found dead in their house in North Delhi on 1 July, suffered heart failure at a rescue shelter in Noida on Sunday, 22 July.

When the police had entered the house after receiving news of the murder, they had found Tommy chained up on the terrace, a report by Hindustan Times states. At the time, he was reportedly suffering from high fever.

Tommy, an Indian-Pitbull mixed breed, was immediately taken to the Noida’s House of Stray Animals, and treated. Although he was ferocious and refusing food for the first two days, his condition became stable after that.

Initially, Tommy was depressed… He refused food for the first two days. But his condition improved over the next few days. He had resumed eating and was also acting friendly. I had started taking him on morning and evening walks. 

Noida-based animal activist Sanjay Mohapatra told <i>Hindustan Times </i>

Mohapatra had adopted Tommy after his owners were found dead, in what the police have called a “mass suicide”.

He added that until Sunday afternoon, Tommy was seemingly healthy and had even gone for a walk at 2 pm. However, after he returned from his evening walk at 6 pm, he suffered heart failure and passed away.

“We took help of the veterinary doctor at our shelter and tried our best to revive him but failed,” Mohapatra told Hindustan Times.

Veterinarians and experts, who had treated Tommy before, said that he weighed the average 35 kg and that his blood tests didn’t reveal any medical ailments, as such.

It is possible that the dog might have had a history of medical issues and its previous owners did not know about it. We find such cases in animals that are of mixed breeds.

Vice-President, Friendicoes, Geeta Seshamani, told <i>Hindustan Times </i>

Seshamani added that another reason for his death could be that Tommy could not adjust to the new environment of the shelter, and it took its toll.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mohapatra said that relatives of the Burari family, who had earlier thanked him for adopting Tommy, had been informed of his demise.

“I have informed a relative and the Delhi Police regarding Tommy’s death. We are preserving Tommy’s body with ice blocks and the postmortem exercise will be conducted by Delhi Police on Monday, 23 July,” he said.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)