Stray dogs menace: Not directed removal of every dog from streets, says SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday clarified that it had not directed the removal of every dog from the streets, and the direction was to treat these stray canines according to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules. A three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria said, “We have not directed the removal of every dog from the streets. The direction is to treat them as per the rules.” The apex court also said that dogs can smell people who are either afraid of them or have suffered a dog bite, and they attack such persons.

On Thursday, it heard detailed arguments in the suo motu case it initiated on the issue of stray dogs in public places. The hearing in the case will continue on Friday. The bench heard submissions of lawyers, including senior advocates Shyam Divan, Sidharth Luthra, CU Singh, Krishnan Venugopal, Dhruv Mehta, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Karuna Nundy. Senior advocate argued that when there is an abrupt removal of dogs, rodent populations shoot up and leading to unintended consequences. When dogs are housed in shelters in a crowded environment, it leads to the spread of other diseases, the bench added. Senior advocate Nakul Dewan said that dogs should be microchipped for a record of vaccinations, sterilization and other benefits and called for setting up an expert committee for examination of the issues involved. “It is necessary to constitute an expert committee. This is not a problem that can be eliminated in a day. We need to decelerate the growth of community dogs,” he said. (ANI)

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