Mr Puran Doshi Stood For Saving Stray Dogs

By Author: Parth
Total Articles: 13
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When we start working with solving stray dog problem the first thing to do is to determine what kind of dogs are on the streets and where they are coming from.

India has attempted to address its stray dog problem for the last two centuries. In the 19th century, the British started killing stray dogs to control the population. This continued through Independence with up to 50,000 dogs killed each year.
In 1960, the government passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which aimed to prevent unnecessary pain or suffering to animals. The Act also established the Animal Welfare Board to advise the government on animal welfare laws and promote animal welfare in the country of India. Despite this act, the government continued its mass killing of stray dogs.

In 1993, the government admitted that its stray dog program was a failure, since both rabies deaths and the stray dog population had increased. Nearly a decade later, the government amended the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act with the Animal Birth Control Rules 2001. The Rules aimed to revise the government’s stray dog program. Instead of killing ...
... stray dogs in India, the government would sterilize stray dogs, vaccinate them against rabies, then release the stray dogs back in their original territories.
The Rules also made it illegal for municipal officials to kill stray dogs. However, this has not been effective. Many local governments have since carried out mass killings of stray dogs. In 2008, the Kashmir government poisoned stray dogs in an effort to eliminate 100,000 dogs. In 2009, Meerut (a village in Uttar Pradesh) also faced criticism over mass killings of stray dogs. People started multiple petitions against Meerut, and the killings stopped shortly after.
In 2015, both the Kerala High Court and Bombay High Court passed orders to reduce the stray dog population by killing strays as humanely as possible. Both orders faced significant backlash. An international movement to boycott travel to Kerala gained momentum, and mass protests occurred in Mumbai. Both orders were overruled by higher courts.

Also in 2015, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation wrote to the Union Minister for Women and Child Development to ask for an amendment to the Animal Birth Control Rules 2001. The letter explained that they wanted to be able to kill rabid or aggressive dogs for public safety.
In November 2015, the Supreme Court asked all states and union territories to follow central rules, which ban killing stray dogs in India. The Court ruled that only “irretrievably ill or mortally wounded” stray dogs can be eliminated, which should happen in a “humane manner”. However, it is notably difficult to determine which dogs are “irretrievably ill”. The usual procedure — to take sick dogs into custody and observe them for symptoms of rabies and other illnesses — can be lengthy, expensive, and dangerous for the humans involved.

Animal lovers have advocated employment of Animal Birth Control Rules to contain population of stray dogs. They advocate sterilization of dogs and say it would reduce aggressiveness or ferocity in them. The committee examined the animal lovers' claim and said, "There is no evidence that Animal Birth Control (ABC) procedures reduce ferocity in dogs. Even otherwise, given the excessive stray dog population in the state, the ABC procedures cannot be a solution to the immediate problem faced by the people." Quoting the health department, the committee said at least 70% of dogs needed to be sterilized at one go to achieve reduction in dog population in the next three years. In a state with nearly 3 lakh stray dogs, government agencies have sterilized only 4,384 dogs in the last one year, it said.
The Justice Jagan committee said it had so far received 60 claims for compensation from dog bite victims but had not been able to process them because of Kerala government's lethargy in providing the apex court-appointed panel with appropriate infrastructure facilities.
Animal lovers blame wrong data

Animal lovers have raised doubts about the data based on which the SC-appointed committee drew its conclusion and the manner in which sterilization is conducted in the state. "The state health directorate had informed me, in reply to an RTI query, that it does not keep the record of stray dog bites," animal welfare board member M N Jayachandran said. "The lack of a monitoring committee as mandated by Animal Birth Control Rules has also worsened the problem."

India’s all-too-common solution for dealing with stray dogs is mass killings. However, a 1993 law prohibits this practice.
A recent proposed law by Supreme Court is proved good news for dog lovers.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the states and the local bodies to take steps to sterilize and vaccinate nuisance-causing stray dogs, under the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, observed that there is a need to balance compassion for animals and the existence of human beings.

It was hearing a batch of appeals, including those filed by Animal Welfare Board and dog lovers against the decisions of some high courts including the Bombay High Court and Kerala High Court to allow municipal authorities to deal with the stray dogs menace.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of the respondents, told the court that more than 46,000 dog bite cases were reported in 2015 and five deaths due to rabies were recorded. It alleged that the NGOs failed to take care of stray dogs, and that several cases of rabies have been recorded in Mumbai itself.
Granting four weeks' time for the states to respond, the court asked the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to come out with a module by July 12.The bench passed the order after senior advocate Dushyant Dave cited two death incidents of dog bite cases in Gujarat and expressed concern over the issue.

Appearing for BMC, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade told the court that the stray dogs run into lakhs and create nuisance across the city. Submitting a data about the dog bite cases from 1994 to 2015, the lawyer said that in 2015 alone there were 46,647 cases. "The NGOs just receive funds, do not do anything and only complain. They should be asked to give accounts of their works done for the welfare of such animals," he said.Filing an affidavit, the BMC said that steps were initiated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act after the authority received complaints over phone.

Mr. Puran Doshi has extended his support in saving stray dogs. He spoke against the killings of stray dogs. According to him dogs doesn't harm you unnecessarily. They can be your friends if you treat them affectionately. Secretary of Congress & Ex Corporator Mr Puran Doshi said," Dog is a friendlier animal, it is more friendlier animal. It is more loyal than politicians".