Animal rights activists and dog lovers have dubbed “unfeasible, unrealistic and inhumane” the Supreme Court’s order directing the relocation of stray dogs from hospitals, campuses, bus stands and railway stations to shelters.
Expressing her disapproval of the “vicious anti-national judgment”, animal rights activist and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi stressed the need to enforce animal birth control rules.
“Whether you like animals or you don't like animals, we want both to be safe, and they can only be safe if the dog population comes down. The dog population has to come down only in one way. But the dog has to stay in its own area. Hundred per cent of the bites have taken place when dogs are relocated. So if you realise that that is the problem, then relocation must first stop. But this judgment only wants relocation,” she said.
She also recalled how the August 11 order of a two-judge bench directing the removal of all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters was later modified with the condition that the canines would be vaccinated, sterilised and released back to their original localities, barring those having rabies and showing aggression.
Animal welfare organisations such as People for Animals, Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (Peta India) and Humane World for Animals India expressed dismay at the apex court’s directive on Friday.
FIAPO chief executive Bharati Ramachandran said not releasing dogs back to the same locality “creates a vacuum and allows dogs from bordering areas to come in and fill the gap”.
“Such relocation to shelters will unleash a public health crisis,” the FIAPO said.
According to Peta India, around 52.5 million dogs live on the streets, and 8 million are languishing in overcrowded shelters.
“The Supreme Court’s reported directive to round up millions of cows from highways and dogs from everywhere, from bus shelters to college campuses — to be imprisoned in imaginary shelters — is nothing short of a recipe for cruelty and chaos,” Peta India’s senior director of veterinary affairs, Mini Aravindan, said.
Animal rights groups have advocated the nationwide implementation of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, by capturing, sterilising, vaccinating and releasing the canines back to the same locality.
Terming the top court’s order unsustainable and counter-productive, Alokparna Sengupta, managing director of Humane World for Animals India, underlined the lack of infrastructure, capacity and resources.
“Permanently relocating stray animals to shelters, which currently do not exist, is likely to increase human-dog conflict further,” she said.
People for Animals (PFA) said the order was a return to cruelty and recalled a surge in inhumane treatment of dogs, unlawful relocation and harassment of caregivers across multiple states three months ago.
“These incidents followed the earlier August directive, which created widespread confusion and was repeatedly misused, despite obtaining a stay a few days after the initial order was published,” the PFA said, adding that Friday’s order is likely to aggravate the same problems.
The PFA said the order provided sweeping directions but no operational clarity with respect to the identification of shelters, capacity assessments and clear accountability for humane capture, handling or long-term care.
India does not have the shelter infrastructure to relocate thousands of dogs, and past attempts at mass removal have repeatedly resulted in killing, starvation, overcrowded facilities, injuries, outbreaks of diseases and high mortality, the animal rights group said.