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The Supreme Court has said recurrence of dog bite incidents, particularly within institutional areas, reflected not only administrative apathy but also a “systemic failure” to secure these premises from preventable hazards.
The apex court directed forthwith relocation of stray canines from institutional areas like educational institutions, hospitals, railway stations and bus stand to designated shelters after due sterilisation and vaccination in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.
A three-judge special bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria referred to several incidents of dog bite in schools, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands and railway stations.
The bench said despite the statutory framework of the Animal Birth Control Rules, the existence of various municipal byelaws, guidelines, standard operating procedures, the practical outcomes have remained suboptimal.
“The persistence of the problem calls for a holistic and coordinated approach… to ensure that the constitutional mandate of safeguarding the right to life under Article 21 is not compromised by administrative inaction or inefficiency,” it said.
Reacting to the SC ruling and speaking to ANI, Animal rights activist & BJP leader Maneka Gandhi was quoted as saying , “This is as bad as or even worse than Justice Pardiwala’s judgement. This cannot be put into practice…If 5000 dogs are removed, where will you keep them? You need 50 shelters…But you do not have that. You need people to pick them up. What difference will removing 5000 dogs make? If there are 8 lakh dogs here, what will removing 5000 dogs change?…The question is that if this were possible, it would have been done…”
