Mumbai: With the Supreme Court ruling that human safety takes precedence over the welfare of sentient animals, activists have raised concerns over misinterpretation and misuse of the order and opposed the plan for shelters.In Mumbai, the BMC has identified sites in Malad, Chembur and Malvani for permanent dog shelters, but activists argue that diverting resources toward confinement instead of sterilisation could prove ineffective, expensive and potentially cruel.Civic officials have informed that currently there are 90,757 stray dogs in Mumbai, and around 13,000 sterilizations take place at eight centres annually. However, so far, no animal welfare group has come forward with expression of interest to build the dog shelters.Activist and legal advisor of PETA India, Meet Ashar, said: “Firstly, dog shelters will take resources away from sterilisation. Importantly, the areas vacated by sending dogs to shelters will be quickly repopulated by dogs from surrounding areas due to the vacuum effect, rendering the exercise completely futile and resulting in a complete waste of resources and taxpayers’ money.”Ashar added: “We have opposed the Animal Welfare Board of India’s SOP, which recommends large-scale shelters that allot a mere 20 square feet per dog — roughly the size of a traditional funeral pyre. This is cruelty.” Pointing at the impractical situation at hand, Ashar said: “With an estimated 62 million free-roaming dogs in India, there is no infrastructure, funding, or administrative capacity to confine even a fraction of the canine population without causing mass suffering and public-health risks.”Animal lovers also pointed at the recent outcry among Delhi feeders who were highly disturbed after an affable old dog, Kaddu, was picked up from the airport.“Kaddu had lived peacefully in the Delhi airport for over 12 years, and never even barked at any of the passengers. So, why was Kaddu picked up and imprisoned?, said activist and legal advisor Roshan Pathak in defence of strays.He added, “Besides the three sites marked by BMC for building dog shelters, we fear that more may come up in forest areas, including Aarey, to accommodate more stray dogs. If corruption happens, we wonder if the captive dogs will even get adequate food. At present, feeders are lovingly giving them food and also vaccinating and sterilizing them from their own pockets.”At IIT-Bombay campus, over 500 students, and also teaching staff had earlier signed a memorandum sent to various authorities, that they do not want their institute’s community dogs to be picked up and put inside dog shelters. All their local dogs are healthy, sterilized and vaccinated.Animal activist Pallavi Patil, said the Supreme Court’s order should not be misinterpreted or misused by private individuals, housing societies, institutions or hospitals. “The order does not grant any blanket authority to any private person or group to remove, relocate, assault, detain or harm community dogs or to harass animal feeders,” said Patil.As the country braces for tighter financial conditions following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent call for citizens to cut down on expenses, animal welfare activists are questioning the huge costs involved in implementing the Supreme Court’s stray dog directives. In Mumbai, the BMC has already identified sites in Malad, Chembur and Malvani to build permanent shelters for community dogs picked up from public spaces such as educational institutions and bus depots — a move activists say could place a massive financial and logistical burden on civic authorities.Civic officials have informed that currently there are 90,757 stray dogs in Mumbai, and around 13,000 sterilizations take place at eight centres annually. However, so far, no animal welfare group has come forward with expression of interest to build the dog shelters, as per the SC directive.Activist and legal advisor of PETA India, Meet Ashar, said: “Firstly, dog shelters will distract resources away from sterilisation. Importantly, the areas vacated by sending dogs to shelters will be quickly repopulated by dogs from surrounding areas due to the vacuum effect, rendering the exercise completely futile and resulting in a complete waste of resources and taxpayers’ money.”Ashar added: “We have opposed the Animal Welfare Board of India’s SOP, which recommends large-scale shelters that allot a mere 20 square feet per dog — roughly the size of a traditional funeral pyre. This is cruelty.”Pointing at the impractical situation at hand, Ashar said: “With an estimated 62 million free-roaming dogs in India, there is noinfrastructure, funding, or administrative capacity to confine even a fraction of the canine population without causing mass suffering and public-health risks.”Animal lovers also pointed out the recent outcry among Delhi feeders who were highly disturbed after an affable old dog, Kaddu, was picked up from the airport. “Kaddu had lived peacefully in the Delhi airport for over 12 years, and never even barked at any of the passengers. So, why was Kaddu picked up and imprisoned? Only after the feeders raised a hue and cry,Kaddu was returned. So, the big question is: why pick up healthy, docile, friendly dogs from public places and put them in tiny shelters for life?” said activist and legal advisor Roshan Pathak of in defence of strays.He added, “Besides the three sites marked by BMC for building dog shelters, we fear that more may come up in forest areas, including Aarey, to accommodate more stray dogs. If corruption happens, we wonder if the captive dogs will even get adequate food. At present, feeders are lovingly giving them food and also vaccinating and sterilizing them from their ownpockets. These are happy dogs, they don’t bite anyone.”When told about the SC directive, that feeders should take the responsibility if their locality dogs become aggressive or bite someone, since “human safety is paramount”, Pathak said: “We have read so many cases where rapists have been released on bail, only to commit more heinous crimes. Ever heard of a stray dog involved in rape and murder? So, who should be jailed, and which creature needs our love and support?”At the verdant Powai campus of IIT-Bombay, over 500 students, and also teaching staff had earlier signed a memorandum sent to various authorities, that they do not want their institute’s community dogs to be picked up and put inside dog shelters. All their local dogs are healthy, sterilized and vaccinated.Animal activist Pallavi Patil, said that all feeders are ready to vouch for the fact that their community dogs are safe, and they will take full responsibility for it. “The Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order should not be misinterpreted or misused by private individuals, housing societies, institutions or hospitals. The order does not grant any blanket authority to any private person or group to remove, relocate, assault, detain or harm community dogs or to harass animal feeders. Under the law, powers andresponsibilities continue to remain with competent government authorities acting strictly in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023,” said Patil.Finally, there was also a huge backlash on the statement of the Punjab chief minister, that they will start culling stray dogs in their state, after the SC verdict. The Punjab CM has now issued a clarification on this sensitive issue.“SC never said that stray dogs can be killed at will. Only those which are rabid or suffering from a serious disease may be euthanized. However, who will take a call on this, and how to also judge which dog is aggressive or not,” argued Patil.Vijay Singh
