Supreme Court has ordered that all stray dogs in Delhi must be moved to shelters
- Authorities began rounding up stray dogs in Delhi before Court order was publicised, Supreme Court was told
- Supreme Court criticised authorities for failing to implement animal control guidelines effectively
- Solicitor General cited 37 lakh dog bite cases in Delhi last year, linking to rabies deaths
Hearing petitions challenging the Supreme Court order to round up all stray dogs in Delhi NCR and move them to shelter homes, another bench of the top court today asked why authorities in several areas started picking up the animals even before the earlier order became public. The court also came down heavily on the authorities for not implementing guidelines for animal control, leading to this situation.
The bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria heard the matter this morning after an August 11 order of a two-judge bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan sparked a massive row, with animal lovers hitting the streets to protest the order to remove strays from residential neighbourhoods.
Appearing for the Delhi government, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta pointed to stray dog attacks on children, leading to injury and rabies deaths. "Children are dying. Sterilisation does not stop rabies," he said.
Mr Mehta argued that "no one hates animals". "There are four poisonous species among 100. We don't keep them at home. Dogs do not have to be killed; they have to be separated," he said, citing government data of 37 lakh dog bite cases last year. "Parents cannot send their children out to play. Young girls are mutilated," he argued. The solution, Mr Mehta said, is not in the rules. "The court has to intervene."
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for animal welfare body Project Kindness, said, "This is the first time I heard the Solicitor General saying that laws are in place, but they need not be followed. There are no shelters. The question is, has the municipal corporation built shelter homes? Now, dogs are picked up. This needs to be argued in depth. Let the suo motu order be stayed," he said.
The August 11 order by the other bench came after the court took note of a news report about rising cases of dog bites in Delhi.
Arguing that the order to shift all stray dogs in Delhi NCR cannot be implemented, Mr Sibal said, "This order does not apply because there are no shelter homes. The order says stray dogs must not be released. This, too, does not apply because there are no shelter homes. The order to pick up stray dogs must also be stayed. Where will they be taken?"
Fearing that stray dogs once picked up may be killed, Mr Sibal said, "They will be kept together, food thrown and they will attack each other. This is pestilence. This cannot be allowed."
Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for one of the petitions, said all directions in the August 11 order "put cart before horse". "All directions presuppose issues; available infrastructure is less than fractional available to accommodate all the dogs."
Dog bites are "bad", he said, but "you cannot create a horror situation like this". The senior lawyer added that "well-meaning" orders sometimes go "beyond the law".
Justice Nath came down heavily on civic authorities and said Parliament frames rules and laws, but they are not implemented. "On one hand, humans are suffering, and on the other hand, the animal lovers are here," he said. The court reserved its order.
