Supreme Court to hear the matter on 26 September after the rise of stray dog bite cases.
The Supreme Court 2016 established a committee led by former Kerala High Court judge Justice S. Srijagan to hear cases of dog bite victims, assess the severity of their wounds, and keep a close eye on the facilities and care that are available to them.
The Supreme Court decided on September 5 to list urgently, on September 9, a petition requesting that Kerala’s administration take whatever steps are necessary to control the stray dog problem in the State. The case was listed after the petitioner’s attorney argued that the state had “become ‘dog’s own country’ from ‘God’s own country” due to the 10 lakh stray dog assaults that had occurred over the previous five years in the country.
Despite having received the anti-rabies vaccine, a 12-year-old girl was reportedly fighting for her life after being struck by a rabid dog bite. Later that day, the girl passed away. The stray animals had attacked many children. Despite receiving immunizations, many people are in grave condition. Some are the children of daily laborers.
A bench of CJI UU Lalit and Justice S Raveendra Bhat consented to move up the hearing date from September 26 ahttps://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/the-kerala-high-court-mandates-free-medical-treat/fter hearing the petitioner’s attorney highlight the astounding statistic of “10 lakh dog bites in five years” and ask the court to order the Kerala government to take action to address the issue.
The Kerala High Court ordered on Friday,i.e., 16 September; that all victims of dog bites must receive prompt, effective, and free medical care from government hospitals and hospitals connected to government medical colleges while the State establishes and sets up the machinery in the State to contain the menace of stray dogs.
The Court said in its oral observations, “We shall lift the duty for free treatment once the State apparatus has been constituted and set up to deal with the situation.
The Court additionally stated that it would monitor the actions performed in this regard weekly and asked for reports to be provided to guarantee that the machinery would be implemented effectively.
While lamenting the human-animal conflicts, the Court remarked in its Order that,
In every instance of a dispute between humans and animals, the State and its authorities are required by law to strike a balance between the conflicting interests of citizens and animals and to take the necessary steps to protect those rights.
The State Government issued a Government Order (G.O) dated 15 September 2022 in response to its Order dated September 14, 2022, outlining a detailed four-step Action Plan that included the following actions: mass vaccination drive, the establishment of rehabilitation facilities for stray and abandoned dogs, sanitation/cleaning drive for waste disposal, and I.E.C. campaign. For coordinating the vaccination push, a three-tiered structure of the State Level Committee, District Level Committee, and Local Body Level People’s Committee was also envisioned.https://www.livemint.com/news/india/its-men-vs-dogs-in-kerala-as-incidents-of-dogs-bite-and-culling-go-up-11663300220961.html
In addition, the State Animal Welfare Board of Kerala’s Director of Animal Husbandry submitted a report detailing the measures that were in various stages of implementation throughout the State, such as a mass anti-rabies vaccination programme for owned dogs in all local bodies of the State beginning on January 1, 2022; the identification of 170 hotspots for a similar programme for community dogs; and the identification of 37 Animal Birth Control Centers for the ABC Act.
In addition to these, the Court further instructed the State to take action to locate dogs suspected of having rabies, seize them, and transport them to an isolation facility within the jurisdiction of the local authority in question, if necessary by resorting to the practice of tranquilizing them while under the supervision of a veterinarian.
The State government, through its police force, was further ordered by the Court to, among other things, take note of the Circular issued by the State Police Chief to protect the interests of community dogs in the State.
