'Why not adopt orphans on streets?': SC to dog lover
What's the story
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday expressed its dismay during a hearing in the stray dogs case, stating that numerous lawyers argued on behalf of dog lovers, but nobody was arguing or putting up views on behalf of humans. The comments came after senior counsel Vaibhav Gaggar, representing an 80-year-old Delhi woman known as "Dog Amma," suggested incentivizing adoption of stray dogs. She takes care of 200 dogs.
Argument
'Are you for real'
"A policy for adoptions should be considered - incentivisation. There are many counsel here who have 8-10 dogs at home who are Indie dogs. A national adoption mission may be implemented. Incentivization could be something as simple as sterilization and vaccination," Gaggar argued. "Are you for real? A young counsel just showed us statistics of orphan children on the streets. Perhaps some lawyers could argue for adoption of those children," Justice Sandeep Mehta retorted.
Human neglect
Take them to your house: CourtÂ
During the hearing, the court also indicated it would fix "heavy compensation" on states for every dog bite and death caused by strays. "For every dog bite, for every death, we will be likely fixing heavy compensation for states for not making requisite arrangements," it said. Turning to dog feeders, the bench said, "You take them to your house, keep them, why should they be allowed to roam around, biting, chasing? The effect of a dog bite is lifelong."
Stray control
Court's interim measures against stray dogs
On November 7, 2023, the court ordered states and the National Highways Authority of India to remove stray animals from highways and institutional areas. It also directed fencing of educational and health institutions within eight weeks to prevent stray dog bites. In the previous hearing on December 7, the court flagged rising dog bite incidents across the country and criticized municipal authorities for not implementing Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules. Hearing will continue on January 20.