Canine-free Vidhana Soudha? Karnataka MLAs urge Speaker to 'save' them from stray dogs

Bengaluru: Lawmakers in Karnataka asked Assembly Speaker UT Khader on Wednesday to remove free-roaming dogs from the premises of the Vidhana Soudha and the Legislators’ Home in the backdrop of the Supreme Court ordering New Delhi’s streets to be canine-free.

JD(S) Legislature Party Leader CB Suresh Babu raised the issue during Zero Hour.

“The Supreme Court order should be applicable to all municipal corporations in the state. Dogs should be relocated so that we can keep our children safe,” Babu said.

Senior BJP lawmaker S Suresh Kumar said the top court’s order should be applicable across India. “In just six months, Bengaluru has seen 18,000 cases of dog bites and 18 people have contracted rabies. The (court order) should be applicable in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mysuru and other cities,” he said.

“And the Vidhana Soudha, too,” Khader said, referring to numerous stray dogs strolling about on the premises of the seat of power.

“Yes, there are so many stray dogs. There have been two lakh reported dog bites. It’s a serious matter,” BJP’s CN Ashwath Narayan, a former deputy chief minister, said. “Let’s leave the dogs in the homes of dog lovers,” he said. “The chief minister, in a tweet, has sympathised with dogs.”

Babu added that municipal corporations should catch dogs instead of "feeding them biryani".

BJP’s Umanath Kotian said lawmakers are finding it difficult to keep the doors open at the Legislators’ Home. “The dogs pee on the footrugs. We can’t even step out,” he said.

Khader said he is unable to decide on the issue as “some MLAs are for dogs, some are against”.

Ashwath Narayan urged Khader to act. “Please save Vidhana Soudha and Legislators' Home from dogs,” Narayan said.

BJP’s HK Suresh also urged Khader to keep the dogs away. “Please make sure dogs don’t enter Legislators’ Home. Drive them away,” he said.