Highlights
- SC bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice JK Maheshwari also directed that no coercive steps should be taken in pursuance of the order of the Bombay HC on the feeding of street dogs.
- SC on Wednesday asked if it was even practical to tell people who want to feed street dogs should adopt them and take them home or put them in shelter homes.
- During the hearing, the Animal Welfare Board of India also told the SC that if these stray dogs are not fed, they will become more aggressive.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an observation made by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, which said that those feeding stray dogs should adopt them.
In an interim order passed on Thursday, the SC bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice JK Maheshwari also directed that no coercive steps should be taken in pursuance of the order of the Bombay HC on the feeding of street dogs.
What the SC said
Hearing an appeal against the HC observation, the SC on Wednesday asked if it was even practical to tell people who want to feed street dogs should adopt them and take them home or put them in shelter homes.
“You cannot insist that the people who feed street dogs should adopt them,” Justice Khanna said.
During the hearing, the Animal Welfare Board of India also told the SC that if these stray dogs are not fed, they will become more aggressive.
Allow feeding of strays in appropriate locations
The Court also directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to ensure and take steps for the general public to feed the stray dogs at appropriate locations demarcated by them. Till the areas are identified, it will be open to the Municipal authorities to deal with any nuisance caused by the street dogs by law.
“We also require the general public to ensure that no public nuisance is caused by feeding of stray dogs”, the Court stated in the order.
No action against those feeding strays
It will be open for the Municipal Authorities to take down the names and details of persons who create a public nuisance by feeding street dogs. However, no coercive action in the form of penalties should be taken by the Authorities as directed by the High Court in respect of the public feeding of dogs.
What Bombay HC said
In October, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court ordered that feeding of stray dogs shall not be done at any place except animal activists’ own homes and those violating this should be penalised.
“Such feeding and care shall be undertaken by anyone only after formally adopting and registering these dogs with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). A penalty shall be imposed for feeding stray dogs out of the houses of feeders,” a division bench comprising justices Sunil Shukre and Anil Pansare said.
The Court had also directed authorities, including the police, to register cases against those obstructing civic officials from acting against menacing stray dogs.
