Blames ‘inaction’ of authorities
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a prayer seeking an interim stay on its August 11 directive to civic authorities in Delhi-NCR to remove the stray dogs from all localities and put them in shelters within eight weeks.
After public outrage over the order, the Chief Justice of India referred the matter to a larger bench.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court asked local authorities about their stand on the implementation of Animal Birth Control rules.
The court observed that the whole problem is because of inaction by authorities in implementing the rules.
“Rules and laws are framed by Parliament, but they are not followed. Local authorities are not doing what they should be doing,” the apex court said.
On the one hand, humans are suffering, and on the other hand, animals are suffering, and animal lovers are here, the court stated.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for an NGO, raised the question over shelter homes for dogs.
“The question is, has the Municipal corporation built shelter homes for dogs? Have the dogs been sterilised? Now, the dogs are being picked up. However, the order states that once sterilised, the stray dogs should not be left out in the community,” Sibal argued, seeking a stay on the August 11 order of the two-judge bench.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi also opposed the August 11 order, which asked authorities to put stray dogs in shelter homes, saying dog bites exist, but there is zero rabies death in Delhi this year.
“Of course, dog bites are bad, but you cannot create a horror situation like this,” he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprised the court that 37 lakhs dog bites were reported in the country in 2024.
He further told the court that rabies deaths were 305 deaths for the same year and the World Health Organisation’s modelling shows much higher number.
The Solicitor General said that children are unable to go out to play in open and urged the court to find a solution.
“A vocal minority view as against the silent suffering majority view,” Mehta said, adding, “Nobody is an animal hater.”
After hearing arguments from both the sides, the court reserved it order.
Agencies