New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the death of a11-year-old boy after he was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Kannur was unfortunate.
The court sought a response from the Kerala government on a plea by the district panchayat of Kannur seeking the euthanising of suspected rabid and extremely dangerous dogs in a humane manner in light of the recent violent attacks by stray dogs.
The apex court will consider the case again later this month. A vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice M M Sundresh issued a notice to Kerala and directed it to file a reply by July 7.
"On the oral request, the matter has been taken on board on the date fixed, that is July 12. Counter-affidavit to be filed by July 7," the bench said.
The application highlights the death of an 11-year-old autistic child attacked by stray dogs on June 11, 2023, and a similar incident happened last year in Kottayam where a minor aged 12 years died of a stray dog attack. Stating that a large number of dog bite incidents have been reported across the district, especially against children, the application underlines:
"It is pertinent to mention that 5794 stray dog attacks were reported in 2019, 3951 cases in 2020, 7927 cases in 2021, 11776 cases were reported in 2022 and 6276 cases are reported up to 19th June 2023 in Kannur District itself. It is further submitted that there are approximately 28000 stray dogs in the limits of the Applicant herein."
The panchayat has stated that despite making every effort to control the issue of stray dogs within the local limits, the incidents of stray dog attacks, bites, and road accidents due to dog collisions are increasing day by day within the district panchayat area as well as throughout the state.
Further, the application also argues that 65 ducks and a large number of domestic animals have been killed by violent stray dogs recently in the State.
Accordingly, the panchayat has prayed to the Supreme Court to direct euthanising of "suspected rabid dogs/extremely dangerous dogs in a humane manner." The application has been moved through Advocate-on-Record Biju P Raman.
The interlocutory application has been filed in a civil appeal filed challenging a Kerala High Court judgment of 2015. Last year, the Kerala Government had also made a similar request before the Supreme Court.
(With LiveLaw and PTI inputs.)
