Concern For Dogs Can’t Override Value Of Human Life: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court said today (17 November) that an impression should not be created that human life has lesser value than that of a dog, and stressed that stray dogs can be killed only in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules.

"Let not an impression go out that human life is of lesser value than that of dogs. Human life is divine," the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy observed while restraining vigilante groups in Kerala from propagating and imparting training for killing of dogs.

Noting that even dogs are created by the divinity, the bench said that a dog can only be killed in accordance with law. The bench said this as it was told that some individuals have made it their "mission" to kill street dogs.

But stray dogs have indeed become a nuisance. Instances of dog bites in just one state – Kerala - have often been upwards of 1,00,000 annually, with human death figures in double digits. The all-India figure on dog bite victims must run into millions.

Strays have no place in urban India, but we have them in uncontrolled numbers. Nowhere in the developed world are dogs allowed to roam free in urban areas, posing a threat to unwary citizens. Dog lovers have to take a large share of the blame for this, for they refuse to accept that strays are a menace. Love for dogs is one thing, pretending that strays somehow serve some useful purpose is quite another.

One suspects that many dog lovers love themselves more than their dogs, since dogs give unconditional love, unlike cats or other pets. This is why they may also be investing too little in their training and upbringing.

Dog laws need to be modernised to ensure that strays are gradually sterilised and/or culled so that their population is steadily reduced. The ultimate goal should be stray-free streets. And yes, dog lovers need to be enrolled in Swachch Bharat, especially the part about making it open-defecation free.