New Delhi: Stray Dogs and Monkeys! And of course, stray cows! The bane of life in many a city. The Delhi High Court has had enough of it! City authorities in Delhi were hauled up by the Court. Read on: 

Show the rule book on dealing with the problem posed by monkeys and dogs entering residential and office areas of the city, the Delhi High Court has told city authorities (May 7).

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra also asked them about the rules followed by western countries on this issue.

“What is the rule in western countries. What practice they adopt in case people feed stray dogs?,” the bench said adding that it also wanted to know what practice authorities adopt here in dealing with stray dogs and monkeys.

“There are monkeys all over Delhi, troubling people. What practice and rules you follow regarding them. Monkeys are not sterilised. Are they? They need to be kept properly.

“I remember cows were removed from Delhi roads after an order of this court,” Justice Mittal said.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by a resident of Malviya Nagar seeking directions to the Delhi government and the municipal corporations to shift stray dogs from the parking area of his society to some other place.

While the hearing was going on, several other lawyers also shared the experience of their encounters with stray canines and one of them told the bench that he was bitten by a dog in the high court premises.

The lawyer said that despite informing the registrar general of the high court about the incident, there has been no change in the scenario inside the court complex.

The bench asked the Delhi government and three municipal corporations here to place before it, if any, the rules by which people are being stopped from feeding stray dogs.

The bench also questioned the civic bodies as to why they leave dogs at the same place after sterilisation.

To this, the counsel for the authorities said that as per the rule book, the provision is to sterilise stray canines and leave them to the place from where they were picked up.

The court, however, asked the authorities to place the rule book before it by July 12.

Petitioner Om Prakash Saini, a resident of Khirki Extension, has come to the court challenging the order of a single judge who refused to entertain his prayer for shifting of stray dogs.

Saini submitted that many locals fed stray dogs, due to which the animals entered the common parking area, terrace and stairs of the building where he resided.

[Now animal activists are going to be up in arms… dog lovers’ societies will be taking a very different view! One Delhi based dog lover, who was bitten by a stray dog herself, has defended the dog and continues to feed these dogs, which actually protect the dog lovers, she says from experience]

He said stray dogs keep roaming around, creating “terror and biting people” on many occasions.

[A homeopathic doctor in Patna wonders why somebody isn’t filing a similar petition in the Patna High Court, as walkers around the new Patliputra area have been terrorized by dogs and stray cows as well! He says he’s going to see if a similar petition can be placed before the Patna High Court]

The petitioner said that the building and common area was filled with dog excreta and children were unable to study because of the noise of their barking.

One person from the area was hospitalised for a week at AIIMS in November 2015 after being bitten by a dog, the plea added.

He said the single judge had not entertained the petition as a Supreme Court judgement was being inferred by the corporations in a manner that they cannot shift or eliminate stray animals as they are bound by the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.