Ground shift for stray dogs

ON A LEASH | Supreme Court orders removal of stray dogs from schools, hospitals, bus stands and depots, railway stations, public sports complexes

- FPJ News Service

Having regard to the "alarming rise of dog-bite incidents," the Supreme Court on Friday directed all states and Union Territories to ensure that stray dogs are removed from the premises of educational institutions, hospitals, public sports complexes, bus stands, depots, and railway stations.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria passed the directions in the "City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price" versus the State of Andhra Pradesh case. It said that such premises must be properly fenced to prevent the entry of stray dogs, Live Law and Bar & Bench report.

It will be the responsibility of the local self-government institutions concerned to pick up stray dogs from these areas and shift them to designated shelters after vaccination and sterilisation in accordance with the animal birth control rules. The court made it clear that the dogs picked up from these places must not be released back to the same location. "Permitting the same would frustrate the very purpose of liberating such institutions from the presence of stray dogs," the bench observed.