Street dog population management

The notification of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, by the Central Government in compliance with Supreme Court guidelines is a pragmatic step towards management of the street dog population, rabies control, and addressing the human-stray dog conflict. Local bodies, municipalities, and municipal corporations ensuring adequate facilities at animal birth control centres to be manned by trained professionals will be crucial for the implementation of the rules. The new set of rules also requires the local bodies to have a sufficient number of kennels and veterinary hospital facilities within their jurisdiction. The new set of rules, which supersede the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules 2001, prohibits the conduct of an animal birth control programme unless the local authority or the animal welfare organisation has obtained a certificate of project recognition from the Animal Welfare Board of India. This provision will ensure that guidelines are strictly adhered to to prevent cruelty against street dogs in the name of birth control. The rules classified pet animals as dogs owned and kept indoors by individuals and put the onus of deworming, immunisation, and sterilisation on the owner. It defines street dogs, community-owned Indian dogs, or abandoned pedigree dogs as being dogs that are "homeless, living on the street or within a gated campus," and states that the local authority shall be responsible for their deworming, immunisation, and sterilisation, and may engage an animal welfare organisation duly recognised by the Board to carry out the animal birth control programme in accordance with these rules. A spurt in incidents of street dog attacks claiming human lives and causing grievous injuries to many brought the issue of street dog population control, welfare of street dogs, and human-street dog conflict to the centre of policy discourse. Animal welfare bodies put the blame on local authorities for failure to implement animal birth control rules for management of the street dog population and also harped on the need for showing compassion to street and homeless dogs by feeding them. The legal battle over the rights of animal lovers to feed street dogs reached the Supreme Court after the Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court imposed an omnibus ban on feeding street dogs in October last year and directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to levy a maximum fine of Rs 200 on anyone who feeds stray dogs in public places. The SC, while keeping the blanket ban, directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation not to take any coercive action against citizens feeding stray dogs. The Mumbai High Court Bench ordered the blanket ban on a petition filed by Nagpur residents over the growing stray dog menace. The Bench also stated in the order that if any person is interested in feeding stray dogs, they should first adopt them, bring them home, register with municipal authorities, and put them in a shelter, and then only shower love and affection on such dogs, feed them, and take their personal care. The SC, however, found the HC ban to be unreasonable and observed that if stray dogs are not fed, they will become more aggressive. It also held the view that adoption should not mean stray dogs will have to be brought into the homes of feeders. Birth control for street dogs, therefore, remains the most effective strategy to address the larger issue and prevent their population from growing beyond the capacity of feeders, whose number is small. The rules stipulate that before the street dogs are captured in any locality, the representative of the local authority or of the Animal Welfare Organisation shall put up banners or public notices making announcements informing residents that animals shall be captured from the area for the purpose of sterilisation and immunisation and will be released in the same area after sterilisation and immunisation. It also underscores the importance of local authorities having within their jurisdiction the requisite number of vans with the necessary modifications for safe handling and transportation of dogs. The new rules have stipulated feeding norms, and adherence to those by feeders will ensure better care for homeless dogs. Apartment Owners’ Associations or Local Bodies’ representatives of an area will be required under the rule to make necessary arrangements for feeding community animals residing in the premises or that area, involving the person residing in that area who feeds those animals or intends to feed those animals and provides care to street animals as a compassionate gesture, and to designate feeding spots, keeping in mind the number of dogs population. The constitution of state animal birth control implementation and monitoring committees by the states and union territories will be crucial to achieving the end objectives. Wider publicity to the rules will help the general public understand the intricacies of the conflict and the importance of finding a solution that ensures safety to both humans and homeless dogs in need of human compassion.