SC order on stray dogs: Voiceless souls not problems: Rahul, Priyanka; not tough to round up stray dogs, says Chidambaram
Rahul Gandhi in a post on X Tuesday said that the court order 'is a step back from decades of humane, science-backed policy'. 'These voiceless souls are not 'problems' to be erased. Shelters, sterilisation, vaccination & community care can keep streets safe — without cruelty,' he said.
Gandhi said that 'blanket removals are cruel, shortsighted, and strip us of compassion'. 'We can ensure public safety and animal welfare go hand in hand.'
His sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka echoed him and said that 'dogs are the most beautiful, gentle creatures and do not deserve this kind of cruelty'.
'The moving of all the city's stray dogs to shelters within a matter of weeks is going to result in horrendously inhumane treatment of them. Enough shelters do not even exist to take them on,' she said on X.
The top court Monday asked the authorities to build shelters, saying that they should first start work on a shelter for 5,000-6,000 dogs in the next six to eight weeks. It sought a report within eight weeks on the creation of infrastructure. The centres should be monitored by CCTVs to ensure that no dogs are taken out, it said.
The Wayanad MP said, 'As it is, animals in urban surroundings are subjected to ill treatment and brutality. Surely there is a better way to manage the situation and a humane way can be found in which these innocent animals are looked after and kept safe as well.'
On the other hand, former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the SC's 'directions on stray dogs must be implemented in every city and town'.
'It is not difficult to round up stray dogs and put them in proper dog shelters. All that a town needs is government or municipal land on the outskirts of a town; levelling the land and fencing it; and putting the dogs in the enclosed space,' the senior Congress leader said.
'Of course, provisions must be made for food and water… There are cost-effective ways to find the food and water for the dogs… ABC (Animal Birth Control) methods must and can be thought of in due course, but the first task is to round up the stray dogs and put them in a protected place,' he said, adding that the 'streets must be free and safe for all people, especially children and elderly people'.
Welcoming the apex court decision, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said: 'We can't have stray dogs in a free-roaming state in the streets of India. Dogs must be removed from the streets of India.'
With the Supreme Court underlining that stray dogs should not be returned to the streets, the Delhi government has been forced to rethink its strategy on controlling the canine population — estimated at around 8 lakh in the Capital. The top court had also termed as 'absurd' a provision in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, which says that stray dogs picked up from an area should be returned to the same place after sterilisation/immunisation.
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