No cruelty, vet care: SC’s order lists strict guidelines

SC has ordered civic bodies in Delhi-NCR to capture all stray dogs within 8 weeks, build shelters for at least 5,000 animals, and ensure none are returned to the streets.

- Utkarsh Anand

The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening issued a detailed written order of its August Il verdict, expanding on earlier oral directions and setting out stringent safeguards for the welfare of captured stray dogs ~ stressing that at no stage should the animals be subjected to mistreatment, cruelty, overcrowding, starvation, or neglect.

The release of the detailed order coincided with the transfer of the suo motu case on the stray dog menace from the bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan toa new three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath.

Reiterating that all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) must be rounded up and housed in shelters “at the earliest,” the court prohibited the release of any captured dogs back to the streets.

Authorities, it said, must prevent overcrowding, ensure constant care.

“Atno stage should these dogs be subjected to any mistreatment, cruelty or deplorable standards of care,” the bench declared in the order, as it directed civic agencies andall personnel deployed at dog shelters and pounds to prevent overcrowding, to maintain continuous monitoring of animals and to ensure adequate, regular feeding.

The order requires trained veterinarians to provide timely medical care and insists that vulnerable or weak animals be housed separately “as far as possible.”

Minimum standards for shelters

The written direction goes further than the oral order in spelling out minimum staffing standards, record-keeping and identification procedures.