Stray Dog Menace: Top Court Summons Chief Secretaries, Says India Shown ‘In Bad Light’
The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a scathing rebuke to states and Union Territories for their “lethargic” response to the escalating stray dog menace, summoning the Chief Secretaries of most states for failing to file compliance reports. Expressing strong displeasure, a three-judge bench observed that rising incidents of stray dog attacks were “showing the country in a bad light before foreign nations.”
Hearing a suo motu case on the issue, the bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, and Justice NV Anjaria warned of “coercive steps” and costs for the non-compliance. “Continuous incidents are happening and the image of the country is being shown as down in the eyes of foreign nations. We are also reading news reports,” Justice Nath remarked during the hearing.
The court noted that only West Bengal, Telangana, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had filed affidavits on the steps taken to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, and even those were not properly on record.The bench directed the Chief Secretaries of all defaulting states and UTs to appear in person next Monday, November 3, at 10:30 a.m. “Why has NCT not filed its affidavit? Chief Secretary to come up with an explanation… Once they are aware, they should come forward! All Chief Secretaries to remain present on November 3, else we will hold the court in the auditorium,” Justice Nath warned, highlighting the court’s frustration.
The case, titled ‘In Re: City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay The Price’, was initiated by the court in July following a media report. The current bench had earlier stayed a “too harsh” order from another bench that had completely banned the release of stray dogs after sterilisation. The court clarified that as per the rules, sterilised and vaccinated dogs must be released back into the same area unless they are rabid or aggressive. It also prohibited the public feeding of stray dogs and called for the creation of designated feeding zones, expanding the case’s scope to a pan-India level with the aim of formulating a national policy.
