Kerala Stray Dog Menace: High Court Directs Government Hospitals To Provide Free Medical Assistance To Victims Of Dog Bites

The Kerala High Court on Friday directed that during the time taken by the State to establish and set up the machinery in the State to contain the menace of stray dogs, prompt, efficient and free medical assistance shall be provided to all victims of dog bites by government hospitals and hospitals attached to government medical colleges. It added that the said treatment shall also be without prejudice to the right of the person concerned to separately seek compensation from the State for the injuries, mental and/or physical, sustained by him/her, before the appropriate forum.

The Division Bench composed of Justice A. K. Jayashankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P. J., while directing so, observed that adequate medical and vaccine supply shall also be ensured at these hospitals. 

"Once the State machinery has been established and set up to deal with the issue, we will lift the obligation for free treatment", the Court added in its oral observations. 

The Court further declared that in order to ensure that the machinery would be brought about efficiently, it shall monitor the steps taken in this regard on a weekly basis and requested for reports to be submitted accordingly. 

The Court in its Order, while lamenting the human-animal conflicts noted that,

"The State and its authorities have a constitutional obligation to balance the competing interests of citizens and animals in every situation of human-animal conflict and take appropriate measures to safeguard those rights".

Pursuant to its Order dated 14th September 2022, the State Government had issued a Government Order (G.O) dated 15th September 2022, whereunder it had given a detailed 4-step Action Plan, comprising of the following steps -  Mass Vaccination Drive, Setting up Rehabilitation Centres for stray dogs and abandoned dogs, Sanitation/Cleaning Drive for waste disposal, and I.E.C. Campaign. A three-tier organization setup was also envisaged for coordinating the vaccination drive - the State Level Committee, the District Level Committee, and the Local Body Level People's Committee. 

 Director of Animal Husbandry, State Animal Welfare Board, Government of Kerala had also submitted a report indicating the measures which were at various stages of implementation across the State, such as mass anti rabies vaccination program in relation to owned dogs in all local bodies of the State with effect from 1.9.2022; identification of 170 hotspots for a similar program for community dogs; identification of 37 Animal Birth Control Centres for the purposes of the Animal Birth Control – Anti Rabies program; proposals to conduct Awareness programs, and construction of animal shelters/pounds for dogs as per the guidelines prescribed by the AWBI for the construction of animal shelters, and so on. 

In this regard, the Court further noted the importance of having animal shelters. 

"The obligation of maintaining animal shelters has been on law textbooks for ages. It is time it is implemented now. This shall be focused upon in the next sitting", it was orally observed. 

In addition to these, the Court further directed the State to take steps to identify dogs suspected to be infected with Rabies, and seize and remove them to a place of isolation within the limits of the local authority concerned, if need be by resorting to the procedure of tranquilizing them under veterinary supervision.

So far as concerns raised by Advocate Vikram Chandravanshi of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) regarding local authorities also being held responsible and awareness being created in the State, the Court was of the view that most of those issues were already addressed in the latest Government Order. 

The Court also took note of the Circular issued by the State Police Chief in order to safeguard the interest of community dogs in the State, and further directed the State administration through its police force to, 

"...ensure that incidents of human violence against animals, including community dogs, as also incidents of violence against persons feeding such community dogs are taken cognizance of, promptly investigated into, and immediate and appropriate action initiated against the perpetrators of such violent acts. The Station House Officer of every police station in the State shall take prompt action taking note of the Circular issued by the State Police Chief and the directions contained in this Order".

On a pointed query by the Court as to what measures the AWBI could take to assist the State government in tackling the stray dog menace, Chandravanshi undertook that the NGOs associated with AWBI and other staff shall help at the groundlevel.

Regarding Kumdumbashree's application to the AWBI seeking permission to conduct ABC, the counsel submitted that if the requisite upgradation had been done and if the requisite intimation has been given, the matter shall be looked into and the needful shall be done on an urgent basis, after investigation.

The Court observed that the directions that have been issued in this regard would be sufficient to quell the worries of the citizenry for the time being, and had posted the matter for further hearing on 23rd September 2022. 

Case Title: In Re Bruno v. Union of India

Click Here To Read/Download The Order