On Monday, the Kerala High Court said that a dog is made ferocious by the circumstances, and it is a myth that a stray canine is dangerous by nature. The statement came while dealing with the issue of street dogs being poisoned in the Thrikkakkara municipality area of Ernakulam district.
The High Court bench of Justices said that killing or maiming the street dogs was not the right way to make people safer. The better option was to capture the canines and rehabilitate them at animal shelters. “This kind of dog catching using hammers cannot be done,” said the Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath.
The court also said that a balance between the interests of the residents of the area who feel threatened by the street dogs and the welfare of the animals has to be maintained. The municipality was directed by the court to identify in its area any animal shelters run by private organizations that would be able to capture the street dogs and shelter them in their premises. The court understands that presently the municipality would not be able to spend funds for setting up such shelters. Hence they have asked the Kerala government to give details of the animal shelters run by the state, and private ones, in all the districts.
The court took up the issue after a video regarding the same was brought to their attention.
While seeking the stand of the municipality over its role in the entire matter, the bench had also directed the civic body to ensure no such incident takes place within its territorial limits in the future and to put in place suitable machinery to ensure the same.
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