The Supreme Court today made it clear that stray dogs also have a right to live and that they cannot be destroyed in entirety.
The apex court bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi agreed that the culling of stray dogs was permissible. However, it pointed out that there has to be a balance and a proper method for this.
When one of the petitioners told the apex court that he wanted to “totally destroy” stray dogs across India, the bench said “nobody can destroy stray dogs in entirety. They also have a right to live”.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand concurred with the observations of the apex court and said that stray dogs have a right to live and there has to be a balance.
The apex court has been hearing a batch of petitions on issues relating to orders passed by various civic bodies on culling of stray dogs which have become a menace, especially in Kerala and Mumbai.
During the hearing, the bench said that in Kerala, there were issues of human concern but all stray dogs cannot be killed for this. “A person can die due to dog bite. It is an accident and for that, we cannot say kill all the stray dogs,” it said.
The bench was also informed that a panel headed by former Kerala High Court judge Sri Jagan had received around 400 matters related to dog bites and it was working on it. The panel was set up by the apex court to inquire into incidents in which people and even children killed stray dogs and these acts were supported by several vigilante groups in Kerala.
“The panel has received around 400 applications out of which 24 have been settled. The committee is working on it,” one of the counsels told the bench, which listed the matter for further hearing on March one.
When an advocate told the court that people have died due to dog bites in Kerala and children were unable to go to school due to this menace, the bench said “just because there are some stray dogs in a field or a school, they cannot be killed”.
(With PTI inputs)
