Humane Approach to Street Dog Issues

The article 'Humane Approach to Street Dog Issues' highlights the significance of community engagement in addressing street dog issues. It emphasizes the need for education and awareness programs to inform the public about responsible pet ownership, including the importance of spaying and neutering pets and providing proper care. The article suggests that involving local communities in decision-making processes and encouraging their participation in street dog management initiatives can foster a sense of responsibility and empathy towards these animals.

Introduction

As one takes a walk down the streets of India, for sure will get sight a pack of dogs who are either scavenging for food in a garbage dump or they are fighting among themselves for their territory. The population of street dogs is mostly framed either by the dogs who were born there only or by the abandonment by their owners. The survival instincts of those born on the streets are better than those of those who have been abandoned as they had been surviving in that raw environment from the very start.

Street Dog has been defined as,

“Any dog in a public area that is not under direct human control. Therefore, this term encompasses un-owned and community–owned dogs but excludes dogs on leashes or under direct human control at the time of the survey.”

In easier words, we can say that street dogs are those dogs which roam free in the streets and are not directly controlled by humans or they are sometimes owned by a whole community. It does not include dogs who are on a leash or those who are in direct human control. Even though street dogs, unlike domesticated dogs have the freedom to roam around but still they lack various factors which are important for making their survival much easier.

Even without any direct human interaction, street dogs are still quite intelligent and can be very adaptive to their environment. For instance, you might have noticed that most of the time while crossing a street, these street dogs crossroads at markings or where the cars tend to stop. They might have observed humans doing the same and have adapted it from them. They have accustomed themselves to the daily passing cars and pedestrians they patiently wait for the traffic to pass before crossing the road so that they could save themselves from getting grievously injured.

Objective

The main question that arises here is why I have taken up this topic only to discuss. Well, you see, In India the population of street dogs have been estimated to be 17.14 Million.[1] This overpopulation of street dogs is causing chaos not only for humans but also for these dogs.

Chaos for Humans

On 11 September 2022, a 12-year-old boy from a village in Kerala’s Kozhikode district was attacked by a stray dog. As he was riding his bicycle in a small lane, a dog pounces on him who came running out of the adjacent lane. The dog grabbed the boy’s wrist with his teeth causing the boy to fall down from his bicycle. To save himself from any further harm he rushed into a house nearby, after a few seconds that dog also went away from him. This led to increasing worries in the state about the stray dog problem and they decided to approach the Supreme Court for seeking permission to kill rabid and violent dogs. A month-long drive has also been announced by the state government to resolve this issue. This drive would be carried out from 20th September to 20th October 2022.[2]

In India, 18,000-20,000 deaths are caused every year because of rabies (which has been transmitted through dog bites). Around 30-60% of rabies cases and deaths reported in India have occurred in children under the age of 15 years. These cases are often unrecognized and unreported.[3] The negligence on the part of authorities has taken away several lives. Even though, various drives have been carried out by the authorities still no impactful result has been observed.

Apart from spreading this deadly disease, rabies, these dogs also create a nuisance for the humans living in that area. Barking and howling and the fight among themselves for mating creates a disturbance for humans. The smell of urine (by which they mark territory) of those dogs who have been neutered or un-sprayed is quite pungent, along with the presence of faeces (toxocariasis) creates an environment which is insufferable for humans.

Chaos for Dogs

Generally, there are three types of street dogs, First: those dogs that roam around freely and are partially dependent on humans as they are fed by the people living around that area; Second: those who roam around freely and are not dependent on humans at all. Even if they are not fed they can survive by eating from the garbage dump near them and drinking water from puddles; and third: those dogs that have been abandoned by their owner. Unlike Street dogs, they are not habituated to survive in the environment of these streets. Due to this the death expectancy of these dogs is higher than that of the street dogs, as they find it difficult to scavenge for food, they often get killed in road accidents or by drinking filthy water.

In India, the rate of pet abandonment is more than in the rest of the world. More than 50% of previous or current pet owners have accepted that they have abandoned or given up their pets. While globally only 28% of pets have been abandoned.[4] It is one of the reasons that we see this abundant amount of stray dogs in our country.

On June 23, 2022; an elderly man was accused of raping a female dog in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The complaint to the District Superintendent of Police was submitted by Kavita Singh, a member of the District Animal Cruelty Prevention Committee accusing an elderly man of sexually assaulting a female dog on several occasions. The matter came to light when the residents of Housing Board Colony saw a dog lying in a pool of blood. The dog was taken to a veterinary hospital, where it was confirmed that the dog has been sexually assaulted.[5]

Here we have only discussed only a single case of sexual assault, In India, between the years 2010- 2020, 121 incidents of crime against street dogs have been reported. Out of these cases, 105 cases are from past years and more than 70 cases are from the past three years alone.[6]

And the number of these cases doesn’t seem to be declining any time soon, which makes it necessary that the right actions are to be taken for the protection of dogs as well as humans.

Through this article, we will try to be aware of some of the measures taken by the responsible authorities along with some suggestions on our part.

Methodology

1. In India, the population of street dogs has been estimated to be 17.14 Million: 19th livestock census of Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi, India, 2012.
2. 18,000-20,000 deaths are caused every year because of rabies (which has been transmitted through dog bites). Around 30-60% of rabies cases and deaths reported in India have occurred in children under the age of 15 years: A report by World Health Organisation (WHO).
   
3. More than 50% of previous or current pet owners have accepted that they have abandoned or given up their pets. While globally only 28% of pets have been abandoned: State of Pet Homelessness Index Report, 2021
   
4. In India, between the years 2010- 2020, 121 incidents of crime against street dogs have been reported. Out of these cases, 105 cases are from past years and more than 70 cases are from the past three years alone: A report by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIOAPO).
   

Result

I. To control the chaos created by the street dogs various actions were taken up by the central as well as state government. Some of those actions were:

A. [Under List Ⅱ (State List) of the Seventh Schedule read along with Article 246(3) of the Constitution of India, it has been stated that the state has the exclusive power to make laws on prevention, protection and improvement of stock and prevention of animal diseases; veterinary training and practice.

B. Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 was framed by the Central Government to sterilize and immunise the street dogs. The local bodies have implemented the Animal Birth Control programme to control the street dog population grant – in – aids are being provided to the Animal Welfare Organizations and local bodies, who are implementing the ABC programme, by the Animal Welfare Board of India so that the schemes for Animal Birth Control and Immunization of stray dogs.

C. Grant-in-aid was provided by the Animal Welfare Board of India under a scheme for Shelter House. This scheme was started with the main objective to establish and maintain shelter houses for distressed animals around the country.

D. The Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of Goa launched Goa Small Animal Rescue Management Scheme 2014. This scheme was started with the main objective to improve the welfare of street dogs through comprehensive sterilization which is a part of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Scheme, under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and the rules are made according to it.

E. The Goa government also launched a scheme in which the local bodies (Municipality/ Panchayats), and NGOs were facilitated to eradicate the menace created by the street dogs.]

F. [Under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, cruelty against any animal is a criminal offence.

G. According to Stray Dog Management Rules, 2001, relocating or removing a dog by an individual, RWA or estate management is illegal. Vaccinated and sterilized dogs are not to be removed even by the municipality and have to be returned back in their area.

H. Section 506 of IPC, states that threatening, abusing or harassing neighbours who feed animals is a crime.

I. Section 428 and 429 of IPC, states that people performing dislocation, abduction and any act of cruelty is to be given a severe punishment of imprisonment up to 5 years.

J. Section 73 to 79 and 99 of Delhi Police Act 1968 provides that the police have the right to take action against any animal offence.

K. Ministry of Public Grievances notification and a similar notice by the Animal Welfare Board of India (March 2008) provides that government employees or bodies such as Resident Welfare Association cannot harass any person who is feeding or helping an animal.

L. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 have various provisions to protect street dogs.[7]

Ⅱ. Some of the issues could not be resolved by the schemes introduced by the government so they needed to be taken to court and later on, the judgments of these courts became the law:

A. Kuljit Singh Bedi v. State of Punjab & Ors. On 24 August 2015:

The Petitioner in this case wanted the court to issue the writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to take the right actions to tackle the menace created by Stray Dogs in the States of Punjab, Haryana and the Union of Chandigarh. The Petitioner, a former Municipal Councillor, Mohali (Punjab) who claims to be a public-spirited person, highlighted that in the states of Punjab and Haryana and also in the Union Territory of Chandigarh the street dogs have created terror and are a threat to human lives, causing injuries/ deaths of innocent people of all age groups. Some of the news items were also attached to the petition depicting the terror of these street dogs.

A report in Hindustan Times indicated that the State of Punjab does not have any funds to carry out the sterilisation of the street dogs and killing them is the only alternative, which is not possible because there is no provision which could justify their killing. The destruction of street dogs is not permissible under Section 11(3)(b) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

The main question that aroused here was ‘What effective steps are to be taken to be taken to control the menace of street dogs?’ To give out the judgment on the case of “New Friends Colony Resident’s Welfare Association v. UOI, 2001”, has to be taken under consideration. The judgement given was as follows: “There is no doubt that it is important to save these animals from any sort of cruelty, but at the same time it is important to ensure that these animals do not become menace to anyone. As human life is of more value than that of animals, the presence of such animals cannot be tolerated along with that it becomes difficult for humans to survive with these animals. The Animal Board did not want to disturb these animals at any cost. They want humans to adjust themselves in order to avoid any further mishappening. They also wanted that after sterilization these dogs are to be left back in the colonies to continue to live there. This makes it necessary to ensure that the interest of humans, as well as animals, is taken into consideration.

B. R. Vishnu Ram Saravanavel v. The Inspector Of Police on 7 September 2022:

The case was related to the interference of police authority at the time of feeding street dogs. The Petitioner presented a direction issued by Animal Welfare Board (issued on 06.02.2015) which stated that there is no law which could restrict any person from feeding a street animal unless it is causing disturbance/ harm to people around the area.

The Court gave the judgement that the states with the assistance of the Animal Husbandry Department or the departments that look after municipalities or cooperation to found a solution to deal with stray animals in a humane way, putting down animals in distress and also sterilization of animals to reduce the threat of increasing stray dogs population, it should be kept in mind that the actions taken by the authority must be humane. Any available animal feed or excess funds must be allotted for animals of state and their well-being.

The petitioner being an animal lover must not be prevented from feeding animals by the respondent as long as the act of kindness does turn into a menace to the passers and they get harmed or bitten by these dogs.]

C. The Delhi High Court in 2011 has asked the police to provide protection to the dogs and the dog feeders if any person restricts, prohibits or causes any inconvenience to any person who feeds a street dog or tries to relocate or kill these dogs then he/she will be liable to be punished.

D. A similar stay order on culling or dislocation of dogs anywhere in India was given by the Supreme Court of India in 2009.

Discussion

The main motive for taking up these steps was to avoid the chaos created in society by the increasing stray dog population along with the increasing violence against street dogs.

The authorities or NGOs working for animal welfare wanted to find a way in which both humans, as well as these street dogs, can survive peacefully. As we discussed earlier that the violence against street dogs has been rising recklessly, so to avoid such cases in the future various provisions or acts have been brought into force by the government.

The conditions have also not been good for animal lovers around the country, as we read in the case ‘R. Vishnu Ram Saravanavel V. The Inspector of Police on 7 September 2022’, they were restricted from being kind to these mute creatures but the justice system stood by their side and gave judgement in their favour.

Even while forming the laws of the state they kept in mind the protection of those who cannot stand for themselves. Various provisions were introduced in order to control the unnecessary killing of them {Constitution has Article 246(3) & Seventh Schedule; Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001; Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act; Stray Dog Management Rules, 2001}.

Suggestions

Even after the introduction of numerous provisions and schemes by the authorities neither there has been no vital change in the conditions of the street dogs nor has the violence caused by them reduced. By analysing the situation it has been seemingly clear that there is a need for solutions to resolve these problems. Some of the suggestions which might help in getting the situation a bit under control can be:

1. The Government appoints NGOs who later on appoint veterinary staff for carrying out the sterilization and vaccination of the street dogs, but most of the time their work proves to be of no effect. To solve out this problem the government should first ensure the effectiveness of the NGO’s.
   
2. The Government should try to introduce more severe punishments for killing, harming or abducting street dogs.
   
3. In each area around the country shelter homes for the protection as well as for proper care of these animals. Each shelter must be provided with veterinary staff so that proper precautions could be taken for helping out the dog in distress.
   
4. The owners of the dog must be registered by the government and a hidden marking which can only be traced by the government officials or the pet shop owners must be given so that the owner can be later traced and can be punished accordingly.
   
5. Even though the Animal Welfare Board has made it mandatory to get your pet shop registered but still there are numerous pet shops that are functioning without a permit, to resolve this issue the government must bring stricter laws and shut down those shops that are functioning without a permit.
   
6. Seminars or general awareness camps should be organized by the government in which they could be taught about some first aid to protect themselves from dog bites or from any other chaos created by them.
   
7. Students must be taught about the veterinary profession and should organize seminars to give students more information about the work of a veterinarian.

References

[1] 19th livestock census of Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi, India, 2012

[2] A report by Hindustan Times

[3] A report published by World Health Organization

[4] State of Pet Homelessness Index Report, 2021

[5] A report by India today

[6] A report by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations ( FIOAPO)

[7] Street Dog Issued in Public Interest, Available Here

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