AGRA: A Labrador Retriever died of suffocation after its Haryana-based owner chained the pet dog inside his car in the parking lot and went to see the Taj Mahal on Sunday.

The animal was locked for over two hours in the sultry weather, and there was no ventilation nor water inside the vehicle.A video of the incident, shot by a local, went viral on social media on Monday, drawing widespread condemnation from netizens.

Taking cognisance, UP Police responded and asked the Agra police to investigate the matter.

"The officers concerned have been directed to take necessary action," Agra police, thereafter, tweeted in Hindi.FIR registered against car owner under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ActTajganj SHO Devendra Shanker Pandey said, “An FIR has been registered against the car owner, Ajay Kumar, a resident of Haryana’s Hisar district, on Monday under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act based on a complaint by a parking contractor.

Postmortem is being conducted to ascertain the exact cause of death.” An officer, privy to the case, added, “It seems the chain tied around the dog’s neck got entangled with the car’s handbrake, which strangled it to death.

Troubled by the heat and high humidity, the pet must have struggled inside the vehicle and tried to come out.” A purported video of the incident shows the locked Hyundai i20 with the dead dog in the leg space of the rear seat.

Police said the incident happened at the monument’s western gate parking lot.

Incidentally, pets are not allowed inside the Taj premises.

Parking contractor Gajju Pradhan, who filed a complaint in the matter, said, “Four persons, including two women, were in the vehicle with a dog.

They parked their car around 12pm, and left the dog locked inside with one side rear window slightly open.

The parking attendant and a guide asked them to leave the dog outside, but they ignored it.

When they returned two hours later, the animal had already died.” Condemning the reckless behaviour of the pet owner, animal rights activist Vineeta Arora said, “It is a cold-blooded murder.

The accused need to be slapped with the IPC section 429 (killing or maiming animals).

As per the norms, pet chaining is cruel and a subject of abuse.

Here the dog was chained inside a locked car in the most adverse weather conditions.” “Those running parking lots should not allow pets to be locked inside vehicles.

In this case, the parking attendant or the guide should have called emergency helpline 112,” said Arora, who runs Casper’s Home Trust, an NGO recognised by Animal Welfare Board of India.