In India, people have recently been divided into two groups – not based on religion, not based on language, not based on Army action against terrorists. This time, all eyes are on stray dogs. YES! The recent SC order on stray dogs has caught the eyeballs, since this is directly a street business. When leaving our homes and stepping on the streets of our colony, there are two types of people – ones who look forward to greeting their pawlicious friends, and the others who keep an eye on street dogs so that they may keep their distance or change their route to avoid any encounter. Those riding bicycles and motorcycles know the scare very well because once in a while, they are followed and barked at by a pack of stray dogs, speeding up and running for their lives.
Now coming to the recent controversy, people have been divided into two groups – DOG HATERS and DOG LOVERS. The Supreme Court order against stray dogs has everyone speaking, their concern or their fears, for or against the Apex Court. Let’s decode what exactly happened, and what are people’s thoughts on the ongoing controversy.
Supreme Court Order on Stray Dogs
It all started on July 28 when the Supreme Court settled and the first thing they did was to take suo moto cognizance to issue SC order on stray dogs. The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan in In Re: “City hounded by Stray, Kids pay price” addressed it as a very alarming and disturbing figures and facts. The source was a newspaper cutting reported by the `Times of India’ in its today’s Delhi edition titled “City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price”. The Court cautioned against hundreds of dog bites leading to rabies, infants, children and aged prey by stray dogs.
Speaking of statistics, the Court took note of an average of 20,000 dog bite cases of which 2,000 happen in Delhi everyday. Keeping mum on the Delhi Government’s recent Scheme for rehabilitation of Stray Dogs, the Court ordered the Government of NCT of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to ensure safety of young children and aged citizens. The Court mentioned a few victims of stray dog attacks.
Since the matter was listed to be heard on August 11, the Court directed the Delhi Govt and MCD to immediately capture stray dogs, detain them in pounds and never let them loose back into public spaces (Source: News report). The Court further added that anyone attempting to resist strays from being picked or rounded up would face action for contempt. More recently, when an Advocate sought intervention by the Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai assured that he “will look into this”.
Dog Attack Scare
There have been several instances captured on camera where kids, elderly, and even adults have been attacked by stray dogs. Here is a compilation of similar videos of stray dogs attacking passersby without any reason.
Another video of stray dogs attacking a child
Criticism of Supreme Court Stray Dogs Order
Since the SC order on stray dogs seeped through the news bulletin, dog lovers have voiced their concern for the voiceless. People are signing petitions to reverse the Supreme Court order, sharing their concern over social media through status, stories, reels, etc. There are plenty of them who call dogs in their locality as friends, and thus, the Supreme Court decision on stray dogs removal has them agitated.
PETA India criticised the Supreme Court decision on stray dogs as “illogical, illegal, impractical, and inhumane”. Politician and Animal Rights Activist Maneka Gandhi says that removal of stray dogs will create new problems. Actor John Abraham went a step ahead and wrote to the Chief Justice of India seeking review of SC order on street dog displacement.
Here is a glimpse from social media platform X (earlier Twitter) where people spoke their hearts out to convey why the Supreme Court order should be reversed.
Support for Supreme Court Decision on Stray Dogs
For the same reason SC order on stray dogs was issued, some people have extended their support on social media. Those who themselves or one of their relatives have been bitten by a dog know the struggle and scare very well. They say that all is well until someone’s own kid becomes a prey to stray dogs, without doing anything wrong.
#StrayDogs – What are your thoughts?
We have seen the SC order on stray dogs. We have also taken you through the reactions – both in favour and against the Supreme Court stray dogs order. Now that you know all about the controversy, it is your turn to share your thoughts. Should stray dogs vanish from your locality? OR Is there anything else that we can do to strike a balance? Share your thoughts in the comments here, or write to us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or at lawgicalshots@gmail.com.
