Kochi: The Kerala High Court has sought a report from the state government on the stray dog menace. The court directed the government to submit a report detailing the steps taken to implement previous orders regarding the sterilisation of stray dogs and its measures to deal with growing dog attacks in the state. The report is to be submitted by Friday.
"The state government is obliged to protect citizens from attack of ferocious dogs by identifying and containing such canines and removing them from public places," the High Court said on Wednesday.
These directions were issued by a bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P in a special sitting convened by it in the wake of instances of dog bites being reported from across the state.
The court also advised the public against taking the law into their hands and to refrain from harming stray dogs. The state police chief was directed to issue a circular in this regard as well.
The Kerala government on Tuesday had said that all stray dogs in the state would be vaccinated and steps had been initiated to identify hotspots of dog bites.
The Health Department has also launched a campaign to create awareness among the people on the steps to be taken in case of stray dog bites.
Recently, the Supreme Court, while hearing a batch of petitions on issues relating to orders passed by various civic bodies on the culling of stray dogs which have become a menace, especially in Kerala and Mumbai, said a balance has to be maintained between the safety of people and animal rights while suggesting that people who feed stray dogs could be made responsible for vaccinating them and bearing costs if somebody is attacked by the animal.
Over the past couple of weeks, stray dog attacks have been the biggest issue bugging Kerala. On Tuesday, 78 people sought treatment for stray dog bites in Ernakulam alone. In just four-and-a-half hours, 24 people sought treatment for dog bites in the Palakkad district. A total of 33 people in Kozhikode, 28 in Kannur, 20 in Kollam, 18 in Kasaragod, five in Pathanamthitta, and two in Thiruvananthapuram districts sought treatment after dog bites. In Pathanamthitta, it was pet dogs that mauled the victims.
(With PTI inputs)
