'Directions To Shift Stray Dogs Impractical & Illegal' : NGO Files Plea In Supreme Court Seeking Recall Of Order

An application seeking a recall as well as a stay on the direction on relocation of stray dogs from Delhi NCR has been filed before the Supreme Court. The application filed on August 12, a day after the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan issued directions to the authorities in the National Capital Territory of Delhi to immediately start picking up stray dogs from all localities and shift them to dog shelters. The directions also extend to Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad.The directions come after the bench took suo motu cognisance of a new report by The Times of India, which allegedly stated that a 6-year-old girl died due to dog bites.The application is filed by an NGO called All Creatures Big & Small seeking : (1) all the stakeholders be heard in the matter before passing any effective orders; (2) recall and modification of the impugned directions; (3) directions that only unsterlized dogs be taken for sterlization drive as per the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules 2023; (4) strict compliance of ABC Rules 2023 by all states; (5) interim stay on the impugned directions till all stakeholders are heard The grounds upon which the recall is sought are: (1) It was contended that the media's coverage of the stray dogs matter was one-sided without depicting the full picture. The plea states that there is no consideration given to other underlying social factors that may influence a dog's behaviour. It states : "There is also no media accountability whatsoever and the Regulatory Bodies investigate reports only after the publication / telecast after a Complaint is raised. There is no fact-checking carried out and more often than not the stories covered are even one-sided.""That apart, there is also no consideration to the fact that if a community dog shows aggression it could very well be because its puppies were killed by humans or it was beaten up with sticks and stones. No one cares to cover that end of the story; nor the fact that community dogs are domestic animals who have lived with humans for thousands of years as a loyal friend of mankind and it is only now that the community dogs are villainized if there is a rare incident of biting. This is notwithstanding the fact that scores of community dogs are being punished because of some bite incidents some of which may be provoked or on account of some past trauma of the community / domestic animal." (2) The impugned order to relocate all stray dogs to 'pounds' is inhumane, impractical, and harmful to their health and the environment. Delhi lacks the land, infrastructure, funds, and staff to care for such large numbers in shelters. The ABC Rules 2023 already address these issues, but the current approach ignores legality, practicality, and humane treatment." Pounds are no places for community dogs to live in and the same shall only cause zoonotic diseases, major illnesses and crippling of these dogs apart from creating ecological imbalance. That apart, there is clearly no land or infrastructure to accommodate the lakhs of dogs in Delhi who have been directed to be thrown in pounds.""There is neither any availability of such vast lands nor infrastructure, staff, funds for food and medicine to cater to this number of dogs who are presently being taken care of in their respective environments. The sterilization, which the Municipal Corporations have been so cavalier about doing, would have to be undertaken very seriously in the case of dogs in shelters. Where State shelters for homeless people have been heavily criticized for their lack of infrastructure and funds, the fate of the proposed shelter for community dogs is indeed a terrifying thought."(3) The impugned order is violative of the settled law of the land that is the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as “ABC Rules, 2023”) which are formed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as the PCA 1960), Section 38 of the PCA Act 1960 Power to make Rules." The said rules expressly prohibit relocation of stray dogs and only allow for a sterilisation drive, after which the dogs are required to be dropped back to their original place of habitation. (4) The constitutionality of ABC Rules were upheld in the Supreme Court's decision in Animal Welfare Board of India v/s People for Elimination of Stray Troubles, thus they are still legally valid and in operation. (5) As per the decision in Development Authority v. Skipper Construction Co. (P) Ltd, it was held that even while exercising its inherent and plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India 1950 to do complete justice, the Supreme Court cannot override earlier precedents of the Hon'ble Apex Court, nor can it go contrary to settled parliamentary law of the land; (6) The applicant contends that while passing the impugned order, no impleaders were heard by the bench, "despite the matter being one where there were no two parties and was a suo motu Petition." It stressed that...

'Directions To Shift Stray Dogs Impractical & Illegal' : NGO Files Plea In Supreme Court Seeking Recall Of Order

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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