Observing that "Life of a dog is not more important than a life of a human being," a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh said that at the same time the "balance between compassion for animals and human lives" has to be drawn.
Allowing the municipal authorities in the country to eliminate stray dogs which are irretrievably ill or mortally wounded, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said, "Such dogs can be eliminated in a humane manner as prescribed under the Central law – Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act."
Observing that "Life of a dog is not more important than a life of a human being," a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh said that at the same time the "balance between compassion for animals and human lives" has to be drawn.
The court accepted the Animal Welfare Board's submission that the stray dogs can't be killed randomly by the civic authorities under the garb of municipal laws as the Central law has specified the killing of stray dogs.
"There can be no trace of doubt that there has to be compassion for dogs and they should not be killed in an indiscriminate manner, but indubitably the lives of the human beings are to be saved and one should not suffer due to dog bite because of administrative lapse," the court said.
"All the state municipal corporations, municipal committees, district boards and local bodies shall be guided by the Act (PCA) and the rules and it is the duty and obligation of the Animal Welfare Board to see that they are followed with all seriousness... a balance between compassion to dogs and the lives of human being, which is appositely called a glorious gift of nature, may harmoniously co-exist," the court said in its interim order.
The bench will take a final decision in the matter later but for the time being the interim order to prevail.
The board argued that the central law mandates birth control of street dogs through strict implementation of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and that should be followed.
The court also asked chief secretaries of states and union territories to provide data on cases of dog bites and "removal/ destruction" of stray dogs, as per the rules.
The bench is hearing a bunch of pleas including Animal Welfare Board of India's petition to decide the issue of primacy of laws framed by Centre and state governments in this regard.
One of the pleas was filed against Kerala High Court decision approving the decision to cull stray dogs by the Thiruvananthapuram civic body on a PIL by an advocate.
The court, in its order, referred to various provisions of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rule and asked civic authorities to act as per them.
The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules provide that stray dogs can only be sterilised and immunised and then returned to the very location from where they were picked up from, once they recover after the animal birth control surgery.
Maharashtra government is also seeking lifting of stay granted by the apex court on the Bombay High Court's verdict. The high court had allowed civic bodies in the state to cull stray dogs which are creating nuisance for public order and common persons' health.
—With agency inputs
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