Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday said Kudumbasree member sought not to have carried out animal birth control measures without being registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath said sterilisation of canines carried out by the Kudumbasree, when it was yet to be registered with AWBI, were illegal and asked "how could you have done that?"
The court said what has been done is done, but going forward AWBI registration would be required to carry out animal birth control measures.
The bench had earlier last month directed the state government to put on hold any proposed transfer of funds to the Kudumbasree for carrying out animal birth control (ABC) measures till the time it was ascertained whether its members are registered with AWBI.
During the hearing on Monday, the court was informed that while Kudumbasree was awaiting registration by AWBI, it had last year carried out 18,000 sterilisations in the state, prompting the bench to say that the same was illegal.
The observation by the bench came during hearing of a plea with regard to poisoning of street dogs in Thrikkakkara municipality area of Ernakulam district.
The court had last week said that setting up feeding centres for stray dogs would ensure they do not become aggressive and attack colony residents and would also remove fear regarding the canines from people's minds.
On Monday, the municipality told the bench that it has put up signages identifying feeding areas for the stray dogs and has tied up with local restaurants to provide food and water to the canines.
The court directed the municipality to file an affidavit indicating the list of places it has identified as feeding sites and listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday, August 11.
The bench also impleaded the six corporations of - Kannur, Thrissur, Kollam, Cochin, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram - in the matter.
The court also directed the state to go ahead with the constitution of a state animal welfare board with whatever possible composition of officials so that the authority can become functional as early as possible.
The bench also asked the amicus curiae appointed by it to look into the issue of private persons sheltering dogs in their residences as it could lead to causing problems to their neighbours.
The court also said that keeping a large number of dogs in a small area was not good for the animals either and suggested that there should not be more than 2-3 dogs in such private shelters being run from homes.
The court had taken up the issue of the poisoning of the dogs after a video on it was brought to its attention.
