Well Judged

What officials must & mustn’t do after SC order on strays

Calling the 2-judge bench order on stray dogs “too harsh”, SC’s 3-judge review bench has restored status quo ante – strays are to be sterilised, vaccinated and released back to their locality. This settles the core issue. The new order, being scientific and practical, is wholly welcome. ABC rules, recently reasserted by GOI in a parliamentary answer, blend logic and compassion. Delhi-NCR’s municipal authorities should now step up their ABC efforts, for effective control of stray dog numbers. SC did well to ask for performance reports on ABC implementation.

For the review bench’s order to not create further conflicts between people and to not inflict cruelty on strays, two issues need to be clear. First, there’s an existing protocol on identifying ‘aggressive’ strays, a definition centred on incidents of dog bites and on evaluating the contexts of such incidents. Authorities need to strictly follow this protocol.

Second, civic bodies must work on three principles when it comes to identifying feeding areas for strays. One, feeders shouldn’t be obstructed – keeping strays hungry is neither good for public safety nor in consonance with the spirit of compassion that informs ABC rules. Two, a large number of dogs can’t be herded into one feeding area. That’s, again, an unscientific solution given dogs’ territoriality. Therefore, every municipal ward will need to have numerous feeding areas, each caring for a small number of stray dogs. Municipal officials already know this, they just have to make sure this logical and humane practice continues. Three, at local levels, any dispute should be addressed by officials working with relevant NGOs, a practice that’s been tried out successfully in Faridabad. Now that SC has reaffirmed ABC rules, all stakeholders must make them work – using both head and heart.

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