The Supreme Court of India has entered a dangerous ruling to quickly exterminate thousands of stray dogs from the Delhi capital region. This decision was made to address a recent explosion of the stray dog population and animal bite cases in the county. The court’s ruling comes as a response to the alarming rise in rabies cases and canine attacks reported in the area.
Delhi’s stray dog population exploded from around 60,000 in 2012 to an estimated one million today. This expansion has unfortunately been coupled with a deeply concerning escalation of public safety fears. From January to June of this year, the city registered 35,198 cases of animal bites. During that same span there were 49 confirmed rabies cases. Rabies India now bears the world’s most severe rabies burden. According to government statistics, around 5,700 Indians die from rabies annually. The World Health Organization even believes this number could be as high as 20,000 deaths per year.
High Court Chief Justice JB Pardiwala described India’s animal birth control (ABC) regulations as “absurd” and totally ineffectual. He stressed that more needs to be done by people in power. The ruling orders municipal authorities to round up all stray canines. They are then required to sterilize, vaccinate, and provide shelter relocation of these dogs to 30 newly constructed shelters. The court has mandated that authorities establish such facilities within the next eight weeks. They should be required to introduce CCTV monitoring to guarantee that no animals are returned to the streets.
“Round up all stray dogs from all localities … whether sterilised or unsterilised.” – Justice JB Pardiwala
The court’s ruling has been met with conflicting responses from residents and animal rights activists. Some community feeders offer food, water, and veterinary support for the stray dogs. They’re scared of how this ruling might impact the animals they love and care for. Nishima Bhagat, an activist from the community, voiced her frustration over the decision, saying,
“We are walking in solidarity to show that there are people for the voiceless. They [the dogs] cannot speak for themselves. They cannot be put into the pounds. We cannot uproot them from the place where they live.”
Critics of the ruling argue that it is impractical to build enough shelters for the hundreds of thousands of stray dogs in Delhi. Mini Aravindan, an animal welfare advocate, noted,
“It’s infeasible to build and staff enough shelters for hundreds of thousands of dogs.”
We commend the Supreme Court for putting public safety first as it tackles the growing toll of rabies. This leadership zeroes in on the growing concern about upholding animal rights while ensuring human safety. Bharati Ramachandran once again provides an impassioned call to arms for animal welfare. She urges large-scale sterilization, vaccination, and public awareness campaigns to address the issues caused by stray dogs in Delhi.