Representative image of stray dogs.
Credit: DH PHOTO
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday told women dog feeders alleging harassment and assault by "anti-feeder vigilantes" to lodge FIRs under the law and move jurisdictional High Courts for relief.
Taking up a suo motu matter related to street dogs, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria refused to deal with the claim of violence against women dog feeders and care-givers at its level, saying it is a law and order problem and remedies are available to the aggrieved under penal law.
The bench said the Supreme Court cannot sit over all individual cases.
Considering the matter, the bench said that some of the arguments made before it were "far from reality" and there were a number of videos of stray dogs attacking children and the elderly.
Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, for an animal rights activist, said that dog feeders, especially women, are being molested, beaten, disrobed and defamed by "vigilantes".
She referred to some incidents, including one in Ghaziabad where a woman was allegedly slapped 19 times in less than a minute, yet no FIR was registered.
She claimed that in some Haryana societies, bouncers have been hired to tackle dog feeders.
Actress Sharmila Tagore, an applicant, through her lawyer, contended that there cannot be a "one size fits all" solution when it comes to stray dogs on the streets. The counsel said the issue must be looked at through science and psychology, as the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules may not be perfect, they need to be reviewed, not discarded.
Her advocate further added that law already recognises a difference between normal street dogs and aggressive dogs and argued that some aggressive dogs can improve after treatment and behavioural care, though it accepted that aggression can return in some cases. Such dogs must be clearly identified by designated committees.
Another counsel suggested zoning of public spaces, by keeping hospitals, main roads stray dogs free, identifying feeders and locations away from public paths but in dogs' territory, timebound ABC Rules implementation.
The court would continue to hear arguments on January 13.