Noida Stray Dog Horror: Why Animal Welfare Board Is A Big Part Of The Problem

This article is based largely on the following articles published on the same theme, in Swarajya.

-How the Animal Welfare Board of India has virtually legalised the stray dog menace

-Dog lovers seem to have missed reading on Modi’s Swachch Bharat

A seven-month-old child died after he was mauled by a stray dog inside Lotus Boulevard society, Sector 100 in Noida, on Monday, 17 October.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Noida 1) Rajneesh Verma, the child's parents are construction workers and they were engaged in work at the time of the incident. “They had kept the boy near them. But a stray dog entered the society and bit him, leaving him severely injured,' Verma had told PTI. 

The incident has, once again, brought into focus the menace of stray dogs on streets.

Animal Bites: A Serious Concern 

The incidents of dog bites have been a major cause of concern.

As per the data shared by the Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries , Parshottam Rupala in the Lok Sabha, about 1.5 crore people have been victims of animal bites between the year 2019 to July 2022. 

From January 1 to July 22, 2022, there have been 14.5 lakh incidents of animal bites reported.

According to the World Health organisation (WHO) report, India leads in number of deaths due to rabies in the world with 18,000-20,000 people dying every year. The report adds that 99 per cent of rabies cases in humans come from dogs. 

Not only that. Between 30 to 60 per cent of the deaths are of children less than 15 years of age.

Animal Welfare As Per The Indian Constitution

As per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCAA) introduced in 1960, abandoning animals, diseased or otherwise, and allowing them to suffer from starvation, thirst and/or dying on the streets is prohibited.

The Act defines an owner of an animal as “not only the owner but also any other person for the time being in possession or custody of the animal, whether with or without the consent of the owner”.

Rightly recognising abandoning domestic animals on the streets to fend for themselves as cruelty, the PCAA makes it an offence for anyone (including municipal authorities and animal welfare organisations, not just pet owners) to abandon them.

Further, municipal laws across states make it the statutory, civic duty of municipal authorities to keep the streets free of stray animals, prevent public nuisance and check the spread of diseases.

In fact, 24 out of 29 state municipal acts explicitly mention impounding straying dogs and licensing of pets.

The ABC Rules Behind Stray Dog Menace

In 2001, the Ministry of Culture, (that has nothing to do with public health and animal control and welfare) issued the animal birth control (dogs) rules – the ABC rules.

These rules state, “If the Municipal Corporation or the local authority thinks it expedient to control street dog population, it shall be incumbent upon them to sterilize and immunize street dogs with the participation of animal welfare organizations, private individuals and the local authority.”

And that after surgical sterilisation, “the dogs shall be released at the same place or locality from where they were captured”.

The ABC rules make no mention whatsoever of dog attacks or how they are to be prevented.

To make matters worse, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), rather than take corrective measures, has made every attempt to further this dangerous ABC policy. It has tried to legalise straying animals and normalise the existence of homeless dogs.

It quotes Articles 19 and 51 to encourage the feeding of animals on streets and has even invented an occupation called “animal feeder”. It has sent circulars to resident welfare associations with regards to "legal action" of "criminal intimidation" that can be taken against RWAs or citizens that oppose this activity.

The responsibility of municipal bodies and pet owners has been forcefully shifted to the community at large, which does not have any power to take action to protect itself.

These rules have, in fact, become a weapon in the hands of “dog lovers” that put stray dogs over and above human lives, as has been the case in the recent incident.

What Can Be Done?

One needs to look for a more humane approach to the problem of stray dogs.

It first and foremost, requires removing them from the streets, and either finding them homes or keeping them in shelters.

These shelters could be managed by animal welfare organisations with proper funding from the state.

Responsible pet ownership needs to be promoted by the government.

Municipal laws must be implemented more strictly.

The current ABC rules, which do not help in managing dog populations and controlling rabies, nor are humane to either animals or humans, must be scrapped.

The goal should be stray-free streets.  

(with inputs from PTI)