The Supreme Court has made a big decision: it has told the government to remove all stray dogs from public places within eight weeks, build new shelters, and make sure that no dog is ever let back out onto the streets.
The Supreme Court of India has ordered that all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR area be picked up and put in special shelters within eight weeks. This is a big step toward stopping the growing problem of dog attacks and rabies. Last month, the court took notice of a media article on the subject and made it clear to the authorities that “action will be taken” if anyone or any group gets in the way of the process of picking up the dogs.
Important Orders from the Court
The Supreme Court’s decision gave the Delhi government, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) a number of important instructions:
Eight-Week Deadline: Officials have eight weeks to set up enough shelters and start picking up all the stray canines that are out in public.
No Release Rule: The court made it very plain that a stray dog should not be sent back out into the streets or any other public area once it is in a shelter.
The court said that the safety of babies and small children is the most important thing, and they should not “at any cost fall prey to stray dogs.”
Action Against Obstructors: The directive warns strongly that anyone or any group that gets in the way of the authorities’ efforts to collect up the dogs will face legal action.
The court also ordered the installation of a helpline within a week for reporting dog bites. It also said that all dogs picked up will be sterilized and given vaccinations.
Working Together to Solve the Problem
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has previously been working on a plan to deal with the problem of stray dogs, so this order comes at the right time. The MCD said earlier this month that it will improve its animal birth control centers and start campaigns to raise awareness about rabies. The MCD made final plans to put microchips in sterilized canines for improved tracking and monitoring during a meeting that environmentalist and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi attended.
But the Supreme Court’s new, stronger decision takes the place of earlier talks and says that all stray canines must be completely and permanently removed from the streets. A group of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan is in charge of this plan, which aims to make public places dog-free. The health and safety of the public come first, above all other considerations. The court’s decision turned down a proposal to let people adopt these pups, saying that they shouldn’t “become pet dogs overnight.”