NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Noting an “extremely grim” situation due to stray dog bites resulting in rabies, particularly among children, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Delhi-NCR authorities to permanently relocate all strays from streets to shelters “at the earliest”.
Saying dog shelters will have to be augmented over time, the Apex Court directed Delhi authorities to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan passed a slew of directions and warned of strict action against an individual or organisation in case of obstruction, which might also prompt the court to initiate contempt proceedings.
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“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,” the bench said.
The bench further remarked if the animal activists and “so-called lovers” would be able to bring back children who fell prey to rabies.
“Will they put life back to those children? When situation demands, you have to act,” it said.
The top court was hearing a suo motu case initiated on July 28 over stray dog bites leading to rabies in the national capital.
The top court on Monday directed all the strays to be removed and put in shelters by the Delhi Government and civic bodies of Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad.
It ordered dog shelters to have sufficient personnel to sterilise and immunise the dogs aside from looking after them. The centres would be under CCTV surveillance to ensure the dog remains in the facility.
Calling it a “progressive exercise”, the top court suggested augmenting the number of dog shelters in future.
It said 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”.
The bench went on, “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.”
The bench underlined making the city and outskirts free of strays was the “first and foremost” exercise .
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, in the meantime, requested the bench to direct appropriate authorities of Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad to comply with the court’s directions. (PTI)
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