The High Court of Karnataka on Monday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a PIL petition seeking direction for effective implementation of the Animal Welfare Board of India’s (AWBI) guidelines on pet and street/stray dogs-2015 and the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi, passed the order on the petition filed by Ramesh Naik L., a Tumakuru-based advocate.
Pointing out that AWBI’s guidelines were aimed at regulating life and movement of stray dogs so that human-dog conflict could be avoided and cruelty on stray dogs be prevented, the petitioner has contended that failure of authorities in effectively implementing the guidelines has been causing damage to both humans and dogs.
The effective implementation of the guidelines is necessary to prevent incidents like death of a four-year-old child in Belagavi due to attack by stray dogs. The petitioner also referred to a recent incident in which a grandson of a late politician-cum-businessman ran his car over a stray dog sleeping on the pavement in Bengaluru.
Failure of the authorities concerned to discharge their obligatory functions has resulted in an uncontrolled increase in the population of stray dogs in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas across the State and this scenario is posing danger to the life of the people, the petitioner has claimed.
The petitioner has also complained that the authorities concerned, despite directions issued by the Supreme Court on implementation of the rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, have failed to implement them to prevent stray dogs being annihilated without any justifiable reasons.
