Animal welfare groups will have no say in decision on culling
In a setback to the campaign by animal welfare organisations across the State, the Karnataka High Court on Friday ruled that all dogs, which are a menace or cause nuisance, irrespective of whether they have or not attacked anybody, could be exterminated in a humane manner — even if they are vaccinated, sterilised and free from diseases — as per the provisions of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act 1976.
However, extermination should be in a humane manner, that is, in a lethal chamber, as prescribed by Section 11 (3)(b) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act 1960 and the Rule 9 of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001, which prescribes methods for culling incurably ill, mortally wounded, ferocious or dumb rabid strays.
Court clarifies
The court clarified that where stray dogs don’t give rise to any behavioural complaints or are free from diseases cannot en masse be destroyed under the KMC Act.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna delivered the verdict while disposing of a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions — some complaining about stray menace and seeking culling of such dogs, and others seeking protection against their killing.
The Bench made it clear that animal welfare organisations have no role to play in the decision with regard to culling of such dogs except to ensure that they are destroyed in a humane manner on the orders of the municipal corporation commissioner.
The court said it had gone through the laws and concluded that there is no bar on extermination or destruction of stray dogs but the culling should be humane.
However, the citizen must bear in mind that street dogs also have a right to live and therefore, people must refrain from attacking them.
They must also ensure that children stay clear of strays and should not play with or feed them, the court said. The Bench ordered that dog owners ensure that their pets are not a bother in public places.
Cautioned
It is mandatory to keep them in a leash in such spaces and not let them loose on the streets so as to avoid a confrontation with street dogs or other pets, the Bench ruled.
Keywords: Karnataka Municipal Corporations, stray dog menace, public interest litigation, Karnataka High Court
Atlast somebody had the guts to think rationally.Nowhere in the civilised world is an
animal more important than a human being.This sort of absurdity takes place only in
India inspite of so many instances of dog bites by stray animals.The crazy attitude of
the organisations like PETA/Blue Cross defies any logic.Sterilization of street dogs is
never a viable option.It will never work in India.Anyway even an ignorant person will
understand a dog will bite even if sterilised!I hope this message is taken to the whole
country.It is important for our childrens' safety -90% of them play in the
streets.Forget the PETA for once.
There seem to be Hitlers in every strata of society. I , myself, have
befriended two stray dogs living in my area. I feed them and play with
them and show them the love they will never otherwise experience. They
are so happy and it's a joy to see them playing like children together.
They are both females, so I will do my duty and see that they are
spayed. We are definitely being brainwashed into becoming a loveless
society. Each one for himself and God help the rest.
Who will decide what constitutes "bothersome behavior"? How will
"bothersome behavior" be differentiated from the "natural behavior" of a
dog? It's a ridiculous judgement.
This is a landmark judgement. A group of crazy people gives more
importance to dogs than human. Whoever shows sympathy for such dogs killing hundreds,
should take them to their home and not make it a public nuisance.
It is probably not a speciality of Bangalore. In the last three months a bunch of street dogs have invaded our locality (Kural Nagar) nor far from Fatima College campus from some where and have been a great nuisence. It doesn't seeem to bother any one. The Madurai Corporation authotities who are on their routine rounds do not seem to be bothered. Luckily the dogs find enough to eat from some where and have not attempted to taste humans (children) walking on the streets.
This is, in my opinion, a step in the wrong direction, because it leaves the interpretation wide open for misuse and abuse. Stray dogs are not inherently dangerous to anyone. What can be wrong in educating people on how to deal with them humanely on a daily basis instead of saying we can kill them humanely? They are not some mysterious pest. They are just dogs, with a long history of relationships with our species, and there are any number of stories of human-dog friendship. Just because some of them are homeless, we should not assume our "right" to question their right to exist, particularly by our judgment of which of them should exist - this is the most inhumane way of doing anything.
How about really mean and aggressive dogs that are "owned" by people? Some of them cause chaos, fear and danger as soon as they come out - both amongst humans and stray dogs, which were until that point, quite peaceful. Some owners are very proud of such dogs too. Who is going to cull them?
Finally, we can look forward to Bengaluru becoming a civilized place again, and not the
wilds with dogs chasing kids, and old people scared to step out. My grateful thanks to the
honorable judges.
1) "However, the citizen must bear in mind that street dogs also have
a right to live and therefore, people must refrain from attacking
them."
2) "all dogs, which are a menace or cause nuisance, irrespective of
whether they have or not attacked anybody, could be exterminated in a
humane manner"
They have a right to live.But they should not cause nuisance.What is
nuisance -if a dog comes in the way of a vehicle ,is it nuisance?
impotent birth control activities for dogs are to blamed .The court's
decision doesn't clearly define what nuisance is? Such open ended
statements could be wrongly interpreted.Poor souls !!
Excellent decision and news. Cull them all today.
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