Hon’ble Minister Prof. Walia,
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Sub: The Common Wealth Games, and Stray Dogs – lawful manner of dealing with Stray Dogs
As Chairperson of the Animal Welfare Board of India (a statutory body constituted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960), I deem it appropriate to invite your kind attention the correct and lawful method of dealing with stray dogs of Delhi. I am prompted to do so after reading an article entitled ‘Rat, stray dog menace on CGF list of concerns’, in the Times of India edition circulated in Delhi and New Delhi.
Firstly, let me clarify that it is not a Central Government notification that provides for stray dogs to be sterilized, vaccinated, and then returned back to their original habitat that they were picked up from. It is infact the law of the land which mandates that these procedures shall be followed to control population of stray dogs as well to control incidence of Rabies. Please refer in this regard to the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, enacted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. These Rules had received the assent of both the Houses of Parliament, and have become the law applicable across the country. A copy of the Rules is enclosed as ENCLOSURE I.
Moreover, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India is already seized of a petition filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India, through which the Board has contended that the Central Rules [Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001] shall prevail over any municipal laws/bye-laws/rules/regulations that are at variance with the same. It is pertinent that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has, in that matter, passed an interim order in favor of the Board, and stayed the operation of a Bombay High Court order dated 19th December, 2008, upholding a BMC Act provision over the Central Rules. A copy of the interim order passed by the Supreme Court, and a news article dated 24th January, 2009, setting out the views expressed by the Supreme Court, are also enclosed herewith as ENCLOSURES II and III respectively.
The rationale behind the procedure prescribed by the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, which are based on the W.H.O. Guidelines for Dog Population Management, is as follows :
‘There is evidence that sustained and effective immunization of 70% of dogs in a given area can result in breaking the transmission of rabies’. [Excerpt from the W.H.O.’s ‘Expert Consultation on Rabies’.]
That level of immunization and monitoring, however, can never be achieved if dogs are removed from the territories they belong to. The same leads to the creation of ‘dog free
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vacuums’ ; and other, possibly unsterilized, unvaccinated dogs from neighboring territories tend to move into the same. On the other hand, if sterilized and immunized dogs are released back into their original locations, they fight off and keep at bay, other, possibly unsterilized, unvaccinated dogs. Being territorial in nature, they strive to protect their territories.
Please therefore keep in mind that if the M.C.D. or any other body tries to dislocate dogs from their habitat, only because India is to host the Commonwealth Games, they shall be seriously interfering with Delhi’s rabies control, and dog population management programme. The Games are no justification for imperiling the same, and thereby imperiling the residents of Delhi.
We may also invite your attention to the fact that this course of action had received the stamp of approval of the Delhi High Court in the year of 2002. Justices S.B. Sinha and A.K. Sikri, in the matter of “New Friends Colony Residents Welfare Association Vs. Union of India and Others’ had upheld this scheme. Recently, Justice V.K. Jain, Hon’ble Judge of the Delhi High Court has vide his orders passed on 18thDecember, 2009, and 4th February, 2010, ruled that since dogs have to be sterilized and vaccinated, they shall be fed by the volunteers of NGOs and animal lovers, in order to confine them to the territories that they inhabit. Copies of the orders dated 18thDecember, 2009, and 4th February, 2010, passed by Justice V.K. Jain are enclosed as ENCLOSURES IV and V.
Please therefore let no steps be taken that will contravene the judgments of the Delhi High Court, and the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.
Animal Welfare Board of India, however will be too happy to assist Delhi Govt. in this regard should there be any requirement.
Yours sincerely,
(Dr. R.M. Kharb)
Maj. Gen. (Retd.), AVSM
Chairman, AWBI
Hon’ble Prof. Kiran Walia,
Minister of Health and Family Welfare
Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi
And
Shri K.S. Mehra,
Commissioner, M.C.D
Town Hall, Delhi.
