Place Strays in Shelters: SC

New Delhi:Flagging the stray dog menace as “extremely grim”, with canine bites leading to rabies, especially among vulnerable children, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Delhi-NCR authorities to permanently relocate all strays from streets to shelters “at the earliest”.

Underscoring that it was issuing the directions only keeping the "larger public interest" in mind, the apex court said: “Infants and young children should not at any cost fall prey to such dog bites leading to rabies. The action should inspire confidence in the minds of people, young and old, that they can move around freely on roads without any fear of being bitten by a stray dog.”

The top court order will make the roads safer for pedestrians as the dogs removed from the streets will not be relocated even after sterilisation. The top court directed the Delhi authorities to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks and augmenting them over time.

Warning of strict action against any individual or entity in case of obstruction, which might also lead to initiation of contempt proceedings, a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan passed a slew of directions, and said: “If any individual or any organisation comes in the way of such force picking up stray dogs and rounding them up, and if it is reported to us, we shall proceed to take strict action against any such resistance which may be offered.”

Taking a swipe at animal activists and “so-called lovers” amid children falling prey to rabies due to dog bites, the bench said: “This is the time to act. All these animal activists and all these so-called (animal) lovers, will they be able to bring back all those children who have fallen prey to rabies? Will they put life back in those children? Let’s take a practical view of the matter. When the situation demands, you have to act.”

It also refused to entertain any intervention application of any animal rights activists and organisations. The top court was hearing a suo motu case initiated on July 28 over stray dog bites leading to rabies in the national capital.

On Monday, the top court directed the Delhi government and civic bodies of Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad to remove all the strays from the streets and put them in shelters. The bench made it clear the shelters should have sufficient personnel to sterilise and immunise the dogs, besides looking after them. Such centres would be under CCTV surveillance to ensure that the dogs remain in the facility.

Dubbing the shifting of dogs from the streets to shelters as a “progressive exercise”, the top court suggested increasing the number of dog shelters in future. The authorities “shall at the earliest start picking up stray dogs from all localities, more particularly the vulnerable localities of the city as well as areas on the outskirts,” said the top court.

“How to do it is for the authorities to look into. For this, if they have to create a force, they shall do it at the earliest,” it said, adding that making the city and outskirts free of strays was the “first and foremost” exercise.

The bench said the directions have to be complied with and implemented scrupulously. It posted the matter for hearing after six weeks and asked the authorities to file a status report on the action taken in response to the directions issued by it.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta urged the bench to direct the appropriate authorities of Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad to comply with the court's directions.

The bench agreed to the suggestion and said there should not be any let-up in undertaking the exercise. The bench directed the authorities to maintain a record of daily stray dogs captured and housed in shelters. It also directed the authorities to produce the record before the next court hearing.

“However, what is important and without this perhaps the entire exercise which we have undertaken may go futile, is that not a single dog picked up from any part of the locality shall be released back on the streets/public spaces,” the bench said, cautioning against any such occurrence.

The top court directed the authorities to also create a helpline within a week for immediate reporting of dog bite instances.

“Action must be taken to round up/pick up/catch the dog within four hours from the complaint being received,” it said.

The authorities were directed to inform the victims of the medical facilities for quick assistance. “Availability of rabies vaccines is a major concern, especially genuine vaccines. The authorities concerned, more particularly the government of NCT of Delhi, are directed to put detailed information about the places where such vaccines are available, the stock of vaccines and the number of persons who report for treatment on a monthly basis,” the top court added.