Around 30 people participated in a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday against the Supreme Court’s order of removal of street dogs in all states and Union territories. Animal rights’ activists were seen wearing life-size dog costumes and carrying placards, urging the apex court to review and recall the order.
Around 30 people were at the demonstration. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)
Activists and dog lovers argued that the directive was logistically unfeasible and plainly cruel as it would lead to the “warehousing” of millions of dogs in shelters for their lifetime. Messages on placards read “awara nhi humara hai” (it is not stray, it is ours); “Removal of stray dogs is not the solution, animal birth control is”; and “Dogs deserve better”.
On November 7, terming the rise in dog bite incidents a “matter of human safety concern”, the Supreme Court directed all states and Union territories to ensure the removal of stray dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus depots, and railway stations. Delhi has seen a series of protests after the order.
Keren Nazareth, senior director at Humane World for Animals India, said: “Rabies and human-dog tensions are serious issues, but removing street dogs has never been an effective solution. Worse, it erodes decades of work to eradicate rabies and to ensure human-dog coexistence. No animal lover or animal protection organisation takes the complex issues and responsibilities lightly, but we must work together to come to an intelligent and nuanced solution rather than sidelining the law of the land.”
She added that removing street dogs may seem like a quick fix, but in the long term, it would be an ineffective disaster. “Warehousing millions of dogs in inadequate shelters for their lifetime, would also make it a very cruel disaster indeed.”
Mousumi Gupta from the same organisation said: “The focus should be on solutions that are scientific, humane, and effective. This will help address the conflict between humans and dogs, and also allow proper dog population management. The scientific solution is the Animal Birth Control Program which focuses on vaccination and sterilisation,” the volunteer added.
Several speakers at the gathering highlighted that the removal or relocation of street dogs has repeatedly failed. They argued that it will create territorial vacuums quickly filled by unvaccinated and unsterilised dogs from other areas, which can lead to increased conflict and public safety concerns.
The next Supreme Court hearing for the stray dogs issue is scheduled for January 13, following a previous hearing on December 18, where the court indicated it would play videos to examine claims about the humane treatment of dogs and address concerns over Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) rules.