Don't Make Dogs Pay for Human Inefficiency

A Supreme Court bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan passed an order on their suo motu cognisance of the stray dog issue in the capital, and directed the administrations of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to pick up strays from all localities and never release them back into public spaces.

- NANDITHA KRISHNA

N August 11, a Supreme Court bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan passed an order on their suo motu cognisance of the stray dog issue in the capital, and directed the administrations of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to pick up strays from all localities and never release them back into public spaces. How to undertake this massive task was their problem, even creating a force if necessary. Enough shelters had to be established to house at least 5,000 stray dogs in the first eight weeks. The pounds had to be staffed well, the dogs dewormed, sterilised and immunised, and the shelters monitored with CCTVs to ensure that no dogs were let out.

The honourable justices contravened the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which prohibit relocation of dogs from their original location. Yet, the bench said it would not be stopped by the proscription, a surprising statement from a judge of the highest court. Nor did it permit interventions by animal welfare organisations, thereby preventing the citizen's right to be heard.