Ensure there are no stray dogs on roads in Uttarakhand within 6 months: HC to govt

In a landmark order on checking canine terror, the Uttarakhand high court on Thursday directed the state government to ensure there are no stray dogs on roads of the Himalayan state within six months.

The high court also noted that the state government may consider framing a law to kill “dangerous stray dogs”.

The directions were given by the division bench of justices VK Bisht and Alok Singh in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Nainital-based Girish Chandra Kholia in August 2017. HT has a copy of the order.

The PIL highlighted the issue of increasing dog menace in the state. It said in the past five years, over 11,000 dog bite cases have been reported in the state.

The court directed the chief secretary to issue necessary directions to all authorities concerned to take appropriate steps for checking the dog menace in their respective areas.

The court also made it clear that the directions issued by the chief secretary will be binding on all authorities, including municipal bodies and other local bodies.

“First of all the concerned authority will determine the number of stray dogs in every town, city and village. Necessary arrangements shall be made for the construction of shelter house in every place,” it said.

The high court said stray dogs should be kept inside shelter houses.

It directed the state government to publish an advertisement in the newspapers, “asking general public and also NGOs, who are interested in the matter, to come forward and to take such stray dogs with them, if they are against the idea of shelter”.

Besides, the division bench directed the government that the municipal and local authorities will also verify from each and every house whether their dogs are registered with the municipal board and if they are not, they be registered as per the law.

The court said given the importance of the matter, the non-compliance of the directions issued by the chief secretary to local authorities will be treated as contempt of court.

The next hearing in the matter will be held on July 16. By that time, the chief secretary has been directed to submit a short affidavit listing the action taken or to be taken to take to check dog menace in the state.

Given the increasing dog menace in Nainital, a few weeks ago, ‘Nainital dogs CE’ WhatsApp group was created to fight canine terror in the Himalayan hill station.

The Humane Society International India, the Indian chapter of the US-based NGO has signed an MoU with the Nainital civic body to check dog population in the hill station through sterilisations.