The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and other local authorities as it heard petitions seeking a stay on a previous order directing the relocation of stray dogs to shelters in the Delhi-NCR region within eight weeks.
During the hearing, the three-judge bench asked the civic body for its stand on the issue, and said, "This is happening because of the inaction of the Municipal Corporation."
"Local authorities are not doing what they should be doing. They should be here taking responsibility. Everyone who has come here to file intervention should take responsibility," Justice Vikram Nath was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.
On August 11, the Supreme Court had directed that stray dogs in Delhi-NCR be picked up from all localities "at the earliest" and be relocated to dog shelters.
Acknowledging that the construction of dog shelters could take time, the apex court had directed to “begin by creating dog shelter(s) for say 5,000 dogs in the next six-eight weeks”.
The order had sparked a huge uproar and outrage from animal activists and some politicians, who argued that there aren't enough dog shelters in the area, as compared to the number of canines.
{{/usCountry}}The order had sparked a huge uproar and outrage from animal activists and some politicians, who argued that there aren't enough dog shelters in the area, as compared to the number of canines.
{{/usCountry}}Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners seeking a stay on the order, also made arguments centered around the shortage of dog shelters. He said that directions to round up the dogs and not let them release cannot be implemented as "there are no shelters in the first place", LiveLaw reported.
On the other hand, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Delhi government, argued that there number of dog bite cases were alarming and were affecting many people.
“Thirty seven lakhs a year, 10,000 per day. This is dog bites. Rabies deaths - 305 deaths for the same year, WHO's modelling shows much higher number,” he reportedly said during the hearing, backing the earlier Supreme Court ruling on rounding up of stray dogs.
Mehta, however, also said “nobody is an animal hater”, emphasising that children are dying due to dog bites causing rabies.