Stray Dogs In Meghalaya Are "Dangerous" In Nature: High Court To Supreme Court

In a significant development, the Meghalaya High Court has requested the Supreme Court to allow it to retain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the stray dog menace, observing that the stray dogs issue in Meghalaya is distinct due to the aggressive nature of the dogs, which poses a grave danger to public safety.

This development has come at a time when the Supreme Court has directed the transfer of similar PILs from various high courts to the top court for consideration.

On August 30, the division bench of Meghalaya high court comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh in its order passed on Saturday stated that, "Although many issues may be common between petitions concerning stray dogs in other high courts and in the Supreme Court, we feel that it is our duty to point out that in this State there is peculiarly distinctiveness in the menace pose by stray dogs. We have been specifically told that quite a number of stray dogs are biter dogs and very vicious in nature. In roads, streets and other public places they attack persons suddenly and at times causing grave injury. Having heard those submissions in this public interest litigation, we had, inter alia, directed those dogs to be taken hold of by the public authorities, inoculated, vaccinated medically attended to and then kept in shelters for observation before setting them free. With dogs of this nature, freeing them without satisfaction that they have ceased to be biter dogs, and allowing them to frequent public places would pose grave danger to the public."

"In those circumstances, we direct the Registrar General of this Court to make a formal application before the Supreme Court on the basis of this order and seek appropriate directions with regard to
retention of this public interest litigation in this court. We strongly recommend that a public interest litigation of this character and nature be retained in this court because of its peculiar and distinctive feature," it stated.

The petition has been now listed for October 15.