A significant step taken by the Wayanad District Legal Service Authority (DLSA), around two decades ago, to control stray dog menace assumes relevance today.
The Authority was able to address the problem effectively in 2005, and had issued a directive to mitigate stray dog menace after researching on the issue from angles of public health and economic burden on society. All stakeholders, including the Chief Secretary of the State, district administration, and civic bodies, among others, were involved in the process.
The Authority had ordered the culling of all unlicensed stray dogs if local bodies had failed to comply with the Union government’s Animal Birth Control (dog) Rules within three months.
While considering the petition of an 80-year-old tribal woman in the district at an Adalat, V. Vijayakumar, former District and Sessions Court Judge, Wayanad, had issued the directive to all local bodies to sterilise all strays within a month or ,if that was not possible, to eliminate the animals within a period of three months.
The judge remarked that the right to life guaranteed to citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution had to be protected, and that laws governing animals were subservient to it.
The decision was consensual and provided ample time to the stakeholders, Dr. Vijayakumar, who was also the former chairman of DLSA, told The Hindu.
The move was well-appreciated across the country as it was the first such directive issued by a legal body. Moreover, it was an informative study on social issues of contemporary India, he said .
It was a commitment from DLSA and the Health department, he added.
“Right to life under Article 21 is above any law or lobbying in favour of stray and mad dogs,” Dr. Vijayakumar said. The government and local bodies have to provide safe travel for the infirm, old, and children. The street is not the place for unlicensed dogs to roam, he said.
