A day after the Supreme Court’s direction, Rajasthan High Court ordered removal of the stray dogs and other animals from the streets/roads, ensuring minimum harm to them.
Rajasthan HC passed the direction in a suo motu plea on Tuesday, adding that if anybody tries to come in muncipal bodies’ way in removal of the stray dogs, action would be taken against them. Regarding this, the Municipal employees have been given freedom to file FIRs against such persons.
"The Municipal bodies shall also undertake a special drive to remove stray dogs and other animals from city roads while ensuring that minimum physical harm is caused to them. If an individual or a group of persons obstruct the employees of Municipalities from discharging their duties in removing the stray animals from the roads/colonies/public paths, then Municipal Officials/employees will be free to take appropriate action against them under the relevant Municipal Laws including lodging of the FIRs for obstructing public servants from performing their duties”, said the division bench of Justice Kuldeep Mathur and Justice Ravi Chirania, delivering the verdict.
AIIMS, Jodhpur and the district court are the main footfall areas of stray dogs.
"We expect from the general public that if due to their sentiments or religious believes or for love towards the animals, they want to feed them or offer food or take care of them, then they shall perform such activities at dog shelters and cattle ponds/ Gaushalas maintained by the Municipalities or private individual/organization," the court added.
Speaking on the Supreme Court’s verdict on stray dogs, Animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi said, “You have three lakh dogs in Delhi. To get them all off the roads, you'll have to make 3,000 pounds, each with drainage, water, a shed, a kitchen, and a watchman. That will cost about Rs 15,000 crore. Does Delhi have Rs 15,000 crore for this?.”
“To get them into pounds, you will have a pitched battle with feeders in every street because they will beat you up and make the dogs run away. Why are we destabilising Delhi?.”
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