In the Olympic games which were recently held at Tokyo Japan, Neeraj Chopra the very young and dynamic youth of India won the gold medal in atheletics (Javelin throw). He not only won millions of hearts by his great achievement but stole the hearts of all animal lovers. Soon after he won the tournament a photo of his was all over social media. The photo showed the pride of India with three little pups in his hands. It is being said that Neeraj has emmense love and kindness for stray dogs. One can see that in the pic.
The Court of India has yet again come to the rescue of stray dogs and this time it's the Kerala High court.
A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath of the Kerala High Court have come out with a remarkable judgement which is not only based on empathy but also logic and rationality.
The bench said that the dog is not dangerous by nature. It is his circumstances which make him ferocious. So very well said. Absolutely true. Every caregiver knows that the stray dogs are neither ferocious nor dangerous it is their circumstances which makes them ferocious. They are provoked all the time. Given below are some of the major points made by the court:
1 It is a myth that a stray canine is dangerous by nature. It is his circumstances which make him ferocious.
2 A balance has to be maintained between the interests of the residents of the area who feel threatened by the street dogs and the welfare of the animals.
3 Killing the street dogs is not the way to make people safer and the better option is to capture the canines and rehabilitate them at animal shelters.
4 Dog catching using hammers cannot be done
5 Court has directed the municipality to identify in its area any animal shelters run by private organisations that would be able to capture the street dogs and shelter them in their premises.
The bench further said that it understands that presently the municipality would not be able to spend funds for setting up such shelters. Hence, the Kerala government was asked to give details of the animal shelters — run by the state and private ones — in all the districts.
The Kerala high court had taken up the issue of the poisoning of the dogs after a video on the same was brought to its attention. While seeking the stand of the municipality over its role in the entire matter, the bench had also directed the civic body to ensure no such incident takes place within its territorial limits in future and to put in place suitable machinery to ensure the same.
To know more about what the court said kindly go on the link below:
Well the ideal situation is definitely to give homes to the stray dogs. Making shelters for them and putting them sounds absolutely just but is it feasible?
Running shelters is not easy at all for both private and govt. Regular funds are always a problem. Shelters run by municipal corporations should not even be thought of. We have seen how the municipal corporations have carried out the ABC program in many states. There is hardly any compassion or empathy for dogs. They are treated like garbage and piece of filth. One can well imagine what will happen to them if they are put in shelter homes run by the municipality. We have seen how many govt run ABC centres are functioning. They are dirty, filthy and stinking. Many dogs die due to infection and human negligence. Imagine if the dogs are put in such shelters permanently then what will happen? They will certainly die within months. And no one will know of it. They will all gradually die a silent death. Animal shelters should only be for the sick, abandoned, injured and disabled animals and not for healthy ones.
The present case which our honourable judges are looking into is a case of poisoning and the municipality and its employee are the prime suspect in it. So one can imagine what these people will do if the dogs are totally on their mercy in their shelters???
Running shelters is not easy at all in a country like India where there is still poverty. It's a tough job for the shelter management to make their ends meet. Financial sustainability is the biggest issue. The animals require regular food (twice a day), medicine, staff to manage them....
Space too is a very big problem. With growing urbanization space has become a very big issue in India.
Let's hope the honourable judges keep all these things in mind and make a fair decision for the voiceless and helpless dogs of Kerala in their final judgement.
The supreme court of India has already made ABC program mandatory for stray dogs in India. Dog rules 2001 clearly mentions that the only solution for stray dogs is the ABC program and any kind of relocation of healthy dogs is prohibited. It was the municipal corporations which were entrusted with the job to implement the ABC program. But just see what kind of implementation they have done for the last two decades.....
ABC program done in a planned and humane manner with people's participation is one of the best solutions to bring a healthy co existence between we humans and the man's best friend.
Unfortunately our municipal corporations did not implement the ABC program in the right manner. They have failed us all. There is neither planning, nor empathy and people's participation is only in dreams. Because majority of the Indians don't even know what ABC is??????????