Soon after the Supreme Court delivered yet another unscientific, knee-jerk order on stray dog management Friday, advocate Nanita Sharma, who is also a petitioner in the case, broke down in front of news cameras.
“Such a harsh order has been passed today, yet I still believe in divine justice,” she told TV news channels.
The order is another heartbreak for the animal welfare community, but when a lawyer says she hopes for “divine justice”, it is a sign that it is time to pause and seriously reflect. I am a dog lover, but we, as a community, are losing this war.
We have failed terribly at two important things. One, we are reacting to this issue only emotionally, not logically. And two, we are not asking the right questions.
For example, the less informed individual may not even bother to ask, why are there multiple orders being passed in this case? How is it that the same three-judge bench—of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria—that called the 11 August order “harsh”, has contradicted itself in the latest ruling?
In its modified order passed in August, the bench had emphasised that stray dog management calls for a “holistic approach”. It had upheld the Animal Birth Control Rules 2023, which clearly state that relocation of stray dogs will lead to more instances of human-stray dog conflict. It also stressed on the importance of sterilisation.
Friday’s order hinges on relocation. The bench said stray dogs are to be permanently removed from public and private institutions, as well as premises like bus depots and railway stations. And almost predictably, sterilisation, the more effective and humane solution to curbing the stray dog population of our country—if implemented by governments on a war footing—was ignored.
And since this is a suo motu case, the matter can go on indefinitely.
So this is my message to the young, dog loving community of the country. Your angst is being wasted on Instagram reels. Stop crying, stop relying on ‘divine justice’, stop writing angry status updates just bashing governments and courts, and squabbling with RWAs. It will only make a temporary dent.
You want change? Hold the system accountable through the correct channels and the right words.
This system is built on a solid foundation of public apathy. And this suo motu case is merely a symptom of a larger problem.
Dogs have co-existed on Indian streets for decades. We let them build their homes on the streets and public spaces, and now, because we think they are an inconvenience, we don’t have the right to haphazardly remove them.
Even an animal welfare activist does not want dogs roaming in hospitals and schools, it endangers both humans and canines. But picking them up and dumping them in shelters is cruel. Dogs feel safest in familiar environments and if they feel unsafe, they will defend themselves.
We must approach this issue in a more logical, scientific manner.
Also read: SC’s new stray dog ruling triggers more protests. ‘Just listen, talk to us,’ rescuers plead
Lobby for legislation
India is now seen as a star actor on the global stage, so why does it still have a toothless Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act that’s as old as 1960? Parliament seems to have forgotten the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Bill of 2022.
As Supreme Court advocate Varnika Singh wrote in this opinion piece for ThePrint, India does not even formally track crimes against animals. Animals are victims of rape, murder, acid attacks too. But the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not include them in its annual report.
It shows how abysmal legislation regarding animals is. This is the first thing that animal lovers must tackle.
Ask any sensible animal welfarist and they will just say one thing—sterilisation efforts, if conducted consistently, and in an organised fashion, can solve this issue once and for all. But it needs a whip cracker, and funds, and infrastructure. Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres need the tools, the staff, the money to work efficiently.
It won’t happen like magic. And what the Supreme Court is asking for is magic.
A few months ago, I covered a tempestuous midnight protest outside an ABC centre in Rohini. Rescuer WhatsApp groups were flooded with allegations that dogs were being mistreated, even killed, inside this centre. Young people, full of fervour, were rattling at the gates, demanding justice.
But many of them didn’t know what they were there for, they were clueless about the allegations against the centre. When someone suggested that they were not asking the right questions, a young girl replied, “Looks like you are also in cahoots with them.” No one asked whether this ABC centre had ever been subjected to an inspection, and if it had, what were the findings.
So, I say to the young dog lover community—knowledge is the most powerful thing in this world. There are organisations fighting for stray dogs in courts, but they need your shoulders to stand on. Most people don’t know how intricate this challenge is. Most people don’t know what spay/neuter is. Many people, even today, oppose sterilisation because they believe humankind does not have the right to rob an animal of the experience of “motherhood”.
You can help people understand, and in turn, ask the right questions. Ditch the reels with the emo songs playing in the background. Use social media to spread awareness instead.
It was public uproar that led the 11 August stray dogs order to be modified. But to truly bring about policy change, to make lawmakers sit up and listen, we need to make it clear that stray dog lovers are a vote bank. You are a bigger community than you know.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)