Activists welcome SC order on strays, but flag concerns

The latest Supreme Court order to release strays back into streets after vaccination - modifying an earlier blanket directive to round up all street dogs and place them in dedicated shelters - was welcomed by dog lovers and animal rights activists across country, although many flagged concerns regarding the observation on 'aggressive dogs' in the order. Municipal authorities in various states affirmed their commitment to abide by the SC guidelines and Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.

While pet owners Anjali Mehra and Shalini Gupta in Lucknow said the verdict is "a victory for coexistence", and "restores faith in compassion", animal rights advisor of Pure Animal Lovers Foundation in Mumbai, Roshan Pathak, voiced concerns about the new SC directive stating "aggressive" and "rabid" dogs are to be taken off the streets. "There is no clear definition of what an 'aggressive' dog is," he said.

Panneeru Teja, an activist who runs an animal shelter NGO 'Citizens for Animals' in Hyderabad, had the same question: "Who decides what qualifies as aggressive?"

Peta India urged the public to remain vigilant to ensure dogs are not wrongly labelled as 'aggressive' and unfairly picked up, and to immediately file complaints with the municipality if this occurs.

Radhika Bose, an animal activist in Kolkata, said, "Only proper implementation of ABC rules can help private NGOs as well as municipal bodies to find solutions."

Thanking SC, actor John Abraham, who is honorary director of Peta India, said "the role of feeders in creating friendly dogs who are easy to handle for sterilisations and vaccinations must be recognised & respected...".

Yogita Kumari, who works with an animal welfare NGO in Mohali, said "designated feeding spots will encourage peaceful co-existence".

Some activists, however, question the idea of feeder zones. Charvi Salil, co-founder of Bowsome Senior Dogs India Foundation in Ahmedabad, said restrictions on feeding strays "risk escalating conflicts" without "transparent, humane and practical frameworks". Kochi mayor M Anil Kumar struck a discordant note over the verdict, saying the situation has returned to square one.

(With inputs from Mumbai, Kochi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Jaipur)