17. High Court of Delhi in 2011 passed an order asking the police to provide protection to dogs and dog feeders and has made it a punishable offence in case anyone restricts, prohibits or causes inconvenience to any person feeding a street dog or resorts to removal dislocation or killing of a dog.
Seriously feeding a stray dog in a public place is wrong? So where is the place to feed them?
On July 2, 2020, Down To Earth (DTE) published ‘Killing with compassion: Why feeding dogs in public places must stop!’, a writeup published in our ‘Blogs’ section. The authors, Shireen Bhalla and Abi T Vanak, expressed the view that stray dogs should not be fed by people in public places.
This in the time of ecological disasters and environmental holocaust and a worldwide pandemic brought on by human actions on the ecosystem?! I understand the authors misunderstanding and misrepresentation of human beings as the sole “natural part of our urban environment” but for humanity’s sake, please remove this article and desist from encouraging apathy and active promotion of cruelty under the guise of giving space to scientific pseudo research.
Compassion for living creatures by, can by no stretch of imagination, mean feeding animals in public places and on the streets. This is not mentioned anywhere in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act either. Indeed, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi said this, “The Mahajan may not allow the dogs to stray… It is a sin; it should be a sin to feed stray dogs and we should save numerous dogs if we had legislation making every stray dog liable to be shot. Even if those who feed stray dogs consented to pay a penalty for their misdirected compassion we should be free from the curse of stray dogs.”
The NGO ‘Humane Foundation for People and Animals’ had mounted the challenge to the HC’s order. The NGO had contended that the High Court’s order was based on misleading, irrelevant, and factually incorrect statements, and that the court’s directions could lead to an increase of the menace of stray dogs. First published on:
“It is the duty and obligation of every Resident Welfare Association or Municipal Corporation (in case RWA is not available), to ensure that every community dog in every area has access to food and water in the absence of caregivers or community dog feeders in the said area,” the HC order said.
The feeding of community dogs has to be done at areas designated by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) in consultation with the RWAs of the municipal corporation. The High Court said that these designated areas must be finalised keeping in mind that “every community dog is a territorial being and therefore, community dogs must be fed and tended to at places within their territory”.
The onus is on all law enforcement agencies to ensure that there is no hindrance caused to any person in carrying out activities related to street dogs at the permitted spots. Also, it is the duty of the local SHO to “ensure peace and harmony among residents of the area”, the HC said.
A single-judge Bench of the High Court had observed that animals have a right under the law to be treated with compassion, respect, and dignity, and that their protection is the “moral responsibility of each and every citizen, including the governmental and non-governmental organisations”. (‘Dr Maya D Chablani vs. Radha Mittal and Ors’, 2021)Advertisement
As a result, individuals and welfare groups have routinely approached High Courts for administrative guidance concerning the treatment of street dogs. In 2007, in response to a series of writs, the Bombay High Court issued directions to its municipalities to implement the ABC Rules. Remarkably, the Court directed authorities to ensure “strictly no feeding of stray dogs in public places including Beaches” (All India Animal Welfare Association & ors v. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation & ors) in a bid to deter proliferation. Activists believed that such directions went well beyond the mandate of the ABC Rules and naturally appealed the ruling.
The first victims of any divisive issue are always nuanced debate and thoughtful analysis. The law should remain unfazed by impassioned speeches by either side of the ideological divide. At the end, the Supreme Court will doubtless endeavour to see each claim in context and find a balance that would allow reconciliation between compassion for dogs and that of human lives.
That safe public spaces are necessary for human society to thrive is not in doubt. How Indian society is to go about achieving this aim remains deeply polarising. Apart from the Delhi High Court ruling, all the foregoing judgments now find themselves before the Supreme Court, which is left to decide the constitutional validity of the ABC Rules and the manner by which they may be implemented. Vexed groups continue to litigate in the hope that one court or the other will set a precedent commiserate with their views.
While noble in spirit, academics are quick to point out that these Rules confer on dogs rights far in excess of those available to other animals, including endangered species such as tigers and elephants protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. They also add that India’s current regulations have operated to increase animal suffering due to its poor implementation.
In its judgment of 2015, the Kerala High Court took the view that human life will always take precedence over that of stray dogs and that “local authorities can exercise the power to capture and destroy the stray dogs” in accordance with the PCA Act and ABC Rules.
Indian Laws on Feeding Stray Dogs | Rohit Pradhan
A cat disappeared, leaving her hungry kittens behind. A friendly man started feeding them, but a neighbor threatened him and told him to stop. Is it legal to feed stray animals in your neighborhood? It’s tonight’s Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Every day Eduardo mixes wet and dry food, then takes it around the corner where the cats wait for him. Seeing them eat makes him happy.
It began this past summer when Eduardo was walking his dog past a house that is being demolished.
Something had happened to the kittens’ mother. They were hungry, and Eduardo wasn’t going to let them starve to death.
Alberto: “Since August 20th, he hasn’t missed a day, even if it rains, a year. He hasn’t missed a day.”
Six months later, watching the growing cats, cats come running to eat when they see Eduardo makes it worth the work. Neighbors like seeing it as well.
Alberto: “Even as like kids come around with their parents and the little strollers and the kids come around to look at the cats while he’s there feeding them.”
Shouldn’t be a problem, Eduardo thought, but of course it’s South Florida, so every neighborhood has that neighbor.
Alberto: “The neighbors, another elderly man, and he says the aggressive neighbor is like the bully of the block. He thinks he owns the block from everybody.”
Alberto: “I’m trying to do a good thing keeping everything clean and everything, and you have a bully coming, being aggressive with me. He has a security shirt on, so does he carry a gun or does he not carry, we don’t know.”
The fellow lives three houses away. His threats towards Eduardo worried Al so much he sometimes comes to make sure his father is safe.
Alberto: “You can’t be doing what you’re doing. You’re being threatening to elderly people you can’t be doing and you’re a security guy? You should know better.”
Eduardo isn’t going to let the cats go hungry and still feeds them, but is it legal to feed hungry animals?
Howard: “Absolutely, yes. A city can ban it, but very few do, and an association can block you from feeding stray cats and dogs, but in most cases, you are free to feed them, and Eduardo can keep doing what he is doing in his Miami neighborhood.”
We went to the house where the neighbor harassing Eduardo lived. The gate was locked. We asked a fellow coming out to have the man call us. He never did, and Eduardo worries what the man may do now what he can’t stop him from: feeding the cats.
Alberto: “Is he going to poison the guys? Are you going to do something to the cats? Who knows.”
Howard: “It’s a misdemeanor to put poison out, and if an animal gets sick or dies, it’s a felony, and you can get up to five years in prison and don’t think you won’t get caught putting out poison because it seems every house has cameras now.”
That’s a relief for Eduardo, but to make sure the cats are safe, he wants to move them to his house and needs help.
Alberto: “So we can at least grab these cat and save them and bring them over cause once they are here at least they will stay around here and not be in harm’s way.”
Patrick Fraser: “Well, if you can help Eduardo out by loaning him a couple of traps to bring the cats to his house, let us know.”
Now, some cities and counties won’t let you feed strays in the park, but they should have a sign to let you know that, but as Howard said, in most places, it’s legal to feed the hungry animals.
A feeding frenzy of problems hitting you? Ready to scratch back and solve them? Don’t go astray! Let us come up with a purr-fect solution.