Shibani Dandekar rescues dog who was abused by owner in viral Holi video: ‘On her way to wonderful new home’

Shibani Dandekar announced through social media on Sunday that she has rescued Roxie the dog, who was abused by its owner in a recent viral video. In the video, the dog’s owner was seen incessantly throwing colours on it on Holi while the dog barked in annoyance. The dog’s treatment had invited criticism from all quarters. Shibani and her sister Anusha Dandekar took to social media to share that they had rescued the dog and it was moving to ‘a wonderful new home’. Also read: Shibani debunks pregnancy rumours with video of her washboard abs

The video of the dog being mistreated had surfaced online a day after Holi. In the video, the dog is chained in a courtyard while people with colour on their faces and body stand around it. A person, seemingly the owner, is seen throwing colour on the dog, which is all covered in green colour and clearly annoyed by it all. Several people and celebs had shared the video highlighting the dog’s abuse and asked for a punishment for its owner. The video had originated from Dehradun.

On Saturday, Shibani shared the video her Instagram Stories and wrote, “Remember Roxie and how badly she was treated a week ago?…swipe for the next story.” The next story featured a picture of Roxie in a car with two individuals. Shibani wrote alongside, “We managed to rescue Roxie and she is on her way to a wonderful new home (heart emoji).” In a subsequent story, Shibani shared a close-up picture of Roxie and thanked two individuals for their help in rescuing the dog.

Shibani’s sister Anusha Dandekar also shared details about the rescue on Instagram Stories. Sharing the same picture Shibani had shared, she wrote, “I don’t know if you remember the story of those boys throwing color on this sweet soul while she was chained to a wall… I can’t show that video coz it makes me sick. BUTTTT my sissy managed to get her saved! I am jumping with joyyyy! Thankyou @shibanidandekar for getting her out of there. She in now moving to a happy, beautiful new hom The bestesssst happy ending!”

Playback singer Anusha Mani and actor Amrita Arora were among the several people who applauded Shibani for the gesture. Many said this was the ‘happy ending’ the dog deserved after its mistreatment.

After the video had gone viral, the men who threw colours on the dog had been booked by the police under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The owner had even released an apology video that was also criticised by many as insincere and ‘too little’.