Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has questioned the attitude of people and organisations that feed stray dogs in public places, asking whether their compassion is limited to animals and not extended to humans, reported IANS.
During the hearing, the court on January 13 raised a pointed query on accountability, asking who should be held responsible if a nine-year-old child is killed in a stray dog attack. “Shouldn’t organisations that advocate feeding stray dogs in public places also be held accountable?” the court asked.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar submitted that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules are primarily aimed at birth control and that even their full implementation would not completely eliminate the risk of dog attacks. He added that the ABC rules do not adequately address the issue of aggressive stray dogs.
Previous hearing
Recalling its previous hearing on January 8, the Bench noted the poor implementation of the ABC Rules and had also cautioned dog lovers on their responsibilities. At that hearing, the court’s observation that dogs can smell fear in humans before attacking had gone viral. The court clarified that it had never directed the removal of all street dogs but had only emphasised their humane treatment in accordance with the ABC Rules.
The court further observed that stray dogs can carry specific viruses and that when such dogs are attacked and eaten by wild animals like tigers, they can transmit diseases such as canine distemper, which may eventually lead to the death of the infected animals.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh argued that the issue should not be reduced to a dog-versus-human debate, but viewed more broadly as an animalversus-human conflict. He pointed out that around 50,000 people die every year due to snake bites and that incidents of monkey attacks are also reported. Singh added that dogs play a role in controlling rat populations and that maintaining ecological balance is essential. Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy contended that killing stray dogs would not reduce their population, and that sterilisation is the only effective solution. The Supreme Court has been hearing the matter as a suo motu case since July last year.
