Killing strays violates Supreme Court order: AWBI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) says that killing of stray dogs would be in violation of Supreme Court directions. Many, including in the government, have been arguing that the law is not against the killing of rabid or aggressive dogs. However, ABC (Dogs) Rules 2001 state euthanasia can be administered only to “incurably ill and mortally wounded dogs.” In the case of furious or rabid dogs, it advises isolation until it dies a natural death. If not rabid, the Rule suggests rehabilitating the dog.

The letter from AWBI chairperson R M Kharb says, “Firstly, if any such killing does indeed take place, it will not only be illegal and contrary to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, it will also be in violation of the SC order. Moreover, it will also be violative of the judgment by the Kerala High Court on November 4, 2015, in the ‘M.R. Ajayan Vs State of Kerala and Others’.”

AWBI has asked the CM that if there was any decision to cull stray dogs, it should be suspended immediately, and the state should instead implement ABC (Dogs) Rules 2001. Kharb says that killing may be counter-productive, as animals can turn aggressive in self-defence. Moreover, it was usually the sterilized dogs which got killed, and their space often filled up by unsterilized stray dogs.