- Lawyers and dog lovers fought outside Supreme Court over stray dog relocation order
- Supreme Court ordered Delhi NCR to build shelters and move stray dogs immediately
- Shelters must have professionals, sterilisation, immunisation, and CCTV as per court
Dog lovers and lawyers got involved in a physical fight right outside the Supreme Court over its order to relocate stray dogs from residential localities to shelter homes. In a video, a lawyer can be seen pulling a civilian and thrashing the man. The lawyer, visibly fuming with anger, hits the man twice before people intervene and try to mediate.
The video of the fight, which has now gone viral, is said to be from August 11, the day the Supreme Court pronounced the order.
In the video, people can be heard screaming and abusing the lawyers.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered civic authorities in the Delhi NCR region, covering Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, to immediately build dog shelters, move stray dogs and update the court. These shelters, the court said, must have professionals who can tackle dogs, carry out sterilisation and immunisation and also have CCTVs to ensure dogs don't escape.
"We are not doing this for us, it is for the public interest. So, no sentiments of any nature should be involved. Action should be taken at the earliest," Justice Pardiwala said. "Pick up dogs from all localities and shift them to shelters. For the time being, forget the rules," he told amicus curiae Gaurav Agarwala, who suggested the steps that can be taken to address the stray dog menace.
The Supreme Court's decision comes amid a rise in cases of dog bites in Delhi, leading to rabies deaths. However, the order didn't sit well with dog lovers. Animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi strongly criticised the order, calling the directive "impractical", "financially unviable" and "potentially harmful" to the region's ecological balance.
"You have three lakh dogs in Delhi. To get them all off the roads, you'll have to make 3,000 pounds, each with drainage, water, a shed, a kitchen, and a watchman," she told the news agency PTI. "That will cost about Rs 15,000 crore. Does Delhi have Rs 15,000 crore for this?" she asked.
Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Wednesday assured a relook at the ban on stray dogs amid an uproar from several quarters of society.
