'There Has To Be An Enduring Solution' : Supreme Court On Stray Dog Issue In Kerala

The Supreme Court on Wednesday orally said that there has to be an enduring solution to the issue of stray dogs in Kerala. 

The Court was considering the plea filed by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) citing increase in stray dog attacks in Kerala, especially against children, seeking directions to curb the menace. The statutory body has filed an intervention application before the Supreme Court in a pending civil appeal in which the Kannur district panchayat has also filed a plea for a direction to euthanize suspected rabid or extremely dangerous dogs in the district.  

The matter is being considered by a bench of Justice J K Maheswari and Justice K V Viswanathan. 

On Wednesday, former Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam, appeared in person and submitted that he has filed an impleading application in the matter, “I love animals, I also love human beings, therefore, I have given some practical suggestions.” he said. 

Senior Advocate PV Surendranath for the Kannur Panchayat submitted that stray dogs had recently mauled a child to death.  "We are not for indiscriminate killing at all. There are furious dogs that bite that cannot be controlled by birth control, we have to identify the ferocious dogs and kill it.” he submitted. 

Advocate Jaimon Andrews appearing for the Kerala Child’s Rights Commission told the Court that several instances have taken place, including the recent death of a 11 year old. "Even last week also an incident took place in Kottayam. Another 6 schools in Calicut had to close down due to this issue.”

Sr. Adv. Menaka Guruswamy appearing for the organisation 'Friendicoes' submitted that they have some some concrete suggestions to make that would assist the court.“If the situation in Kerala is different from the rest of the country, perhaps we need to delve into what is the reason. Your lordships will need to see what will apply, the central law or the state laws.” she said. 

“Justice Deepak Misra had directed all states to comply with the animal birth control rules. Kerala is not complying with those rules. How can the situation in Kerala be so different from the rest of the country? Probably because, the cruelty and aggression unleashed there is unparalleled. On 10th July 2017, the Court has passed an order saying the larger issue here is will the central law prevail or the state municipal laws. That is what has to be considered first.” Guruswamy went on to argue. “The WHO has said that the only enduring solution is animal birth control. If you kill a dog, the vacuum is filled by another dog, the population remains in flux, that is not a solution.” she said. 

Sr Adv Krishnan Venugopal that the people must not be allowed to engage in cruelty against dogs and the larger legal issue needs to be addressed.  “Your lordships may have to decide the larger issue of how the statue and the statutory rules, deals with the issue. The Animal Birth Control Rules need to be implemented. None of the Municipalities in Kerala have implemented these rules which have been implemented in other areas like Jaipur and Delhi. Here, such incidents are controlled because of this, in Delhi and in Bombay. The real problem is that they want to be able to pick up dogs from anywhere. They say they should be able to pick up any ‘suspected rabid dog’ and do whatever they want without any regulatory or statutory control. This is a very serious matter, to permit people to engage in this kind of cruelty. People throwing dogs into rivers, people killing them with poison, people hanging dogs. It is a delicate issue. Your lordships need to consider the legal issue.”

Adv. Puneet Singh Bindra appearing for the organisation 'Neighboard Woof' working in the field of animal birth control, submitted that the organisation has worked in the field of ABC and helped in resolving animal human conflict and would assist the court with its suggestions. 

Sr. Adv. Sidharth Luthra appearing for the Animal Welfare Board of India, submitted that the AWBI has proposed draft rules that are in the public domain, that would be relevant to the matter.

The Court directed Manisha Karia representing the AWBI, to make a compilation of all the pending applications. The copies of the recent applications were directed to be served to all parties. Time was given to the parties to file their responses.

The matter has been posted for further consideration on 16th August.  Justice Viswanathan said, "there has to be an enduring solution for the problem".

Last month, in the wake of an 11-year-old autistic child being mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Kerala’s Kannur, the district panchayat filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to humanely euthanise suspected rabid dogs or extremely dangerous dogs to address the uptick in violent attacks by stray dogs in the area.

In the interlocutory application – filed through Advocate-on-Record Biju P Raman – the district panchayat alleged that despite making every effort to control the issue of stray dogs within the local limits, the incidents of stray dog attacks, bites, and road accidents due to dog collision were on the rise, not only in the district but also the entire state of Kerala. The application has been filed in a civil appeal challenging a Kerala High Court judgment of 2015, in which various directions were issued to local authorities to exercise the powers under the provisions of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Last year, the Kerala Government had also made a similar request before the Supreme Court.

Later the Child's Rights Commission filed its plea before the Supreme Court stating that 5794 stray dogs attacks were reported in 2019; 3951 cases in 2020; 7927 cases in 2021; 11776 cases were reported in 2022 and 6276 cases are reported upto 19th June, 2023. The application made a reference to the recent tragic death of an autistic 11-year old boy named Nihal due to mauling by a pack of street dogs in Kannur on June 11. In the application – filed through Advocate Jaimon Andrews – not only has the state commission asked to intervene in the matter but has also recommended the culling or confinement of stray dogs to tackle the problem of the increasing human-dog conflict.

Case Details:

Animal Welfare Board of India V. People For Elimination of Stray Troubles C.A. No. 5988/2019

State of Kerala V. M R Ajayan C.A. No. 5947/2019

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