Maneka Gandhi welcomes SC ruling on stray dogs, calls it 'scientific'

New Delhi: Former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling directing sterilisation, vaccination and return of stray dogs to the same areas they were picked up from, calling the judgment a long-awaited step.

"The Supreme Court's judgment is scientific and we are very happy with it," Gandhi said, responding to the order by a three-judge special bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath.

The bench modified its earlier directions and allowed sterilised dogs to be released back in the same locality, while prohibiting feeding on streets and directing authorities to create designated feeding spaces.

The former BJP MP noted that the earlier practice of picking up dogs, sterilising them and abandoning them elsewhere had not helped in controlling either their population or cases of dog bites.

"Until now, dogs were picked up, sterilised and thrown in another place. There was no benefit to sterilisation because when a dog is left in a strange area after a major operation, it is scared, in pain and does not know who will feed it. That is when it bites," she told PTI Videos.

The solution lies in returning sterilised dogs to their territory, she asserted.

"If you want their numbers to reduce, it will only happen through sterilisation. If you want biting to stop, that will only happen if the dogs are released back in their own place," Gandhi, a prominent animal lover, said.

She also referred to the Animal Welfare Board's policy framed 25 years ago, which recommended that the feeding of stray dogs should take place in fixed spots within colonies, away from people's homes.

"Every colony should have a designated feeding area, and if there is a large population, two feeding spots can be made. But wherever you feed, do it thoughtfully and not outside someone's house," she said.

The Supreme Court, while laying down fresh directions, instructed that dogs infected with rabies or showing aggressive behaviour should not be released back on the streets but kept under appropriate care.