Kerala welcomes Supreme Court decision precluding local bodies from releasing captured dogs back on streets

The Hindu

a day ago

The Supreme Court decision preventing civic authorities from releasing strays captured for sterilisation and rabies immunisation back on the streets had come as a fillip for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's bid to control the growing street dog menace in the State.
Local Self-Governments Minister M.B. Rajesh said the court on Monday flagged the impracticality and absurdity of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules insisted by the Union government. The law required Corporations, municipalities and panchayats to release the strays into the neighbourhoods from which authorities captured them.
Mr. Rajesh said the Central government has tied the hands of the State government to control the perilous stray dog menace by obstinately refusing to change the farcical rules.
The abounding stray dog population in the State posed a major public health and safety issue for citizens, which local bodies struggled to mitigate, he said.
He said opposition parties deliberately ignored the elephant in the room, the Centre's impossible ABC rules, and assailed the government whenever stray dogs attacked children, passersby, pedestrians and two-wheeler riders.
Stray dogs have ambushed scores of pedestrians, including school students and menaced wheeled riders, resulting in dog bite injuries and road accidents.
Free-roaming dogs were also a threat to early-morning walkers and cyclists. Packs of strays have taken over public parks, making it perilous for citizens to walk their pet dogs.
11 deaths this year
Moreover, since January, at least 11 people have died after contracting rabies in the State, including three children. The deaths raised questions about the efficacy of the vaccine and the control of stray dogs in Kerala.
According to Health department figures, 100,504 dog bite injuries were reported in the State until April 30, with Thiruvananthapuram topping the list with 15,718 cases.
A 2001 Central law banned the culling of strays and emphasised the need for animal birth control programmes.
Officials also pointed out that a dearth of kennels, dog pounds, dog catchers, and veterinarians in the State hampered the government's stray dog control measures.
Moreover, the SC had precluded the government from releasing sterilised and immunised dogs back on the streets, entailing huge costs for local bodies to keep, feed and treat them in expansive pounds. Moreover, the State government has faced public resistance against setting up ABC centres in residential areas, including those in the less congested suburbs.