The Supreme Court on Friday took note of the “alarming increase” in cases of dog bites in institutional areas like educational centers and hospitals and directed that such dogs should be sent to designated shelters.
A special bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria passed several directions in the stray dogs case. He directed the authorities to ensure removal of cattle and other stray animals from highways and expressways and their shifting to designated shelters.
The bench directed the authorities to stop the entry of stray dogs in the premises of government and private educational institutions and hospitals etc. so that incidents of dog bites can be prevented.
He directed that stray dogs removed from such institutions should not be released back to the same places.
The bench asked the authorities, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), to conduct a joint operation to identify the stretches of highways where stray animals are often found.
January 13 has been fixed for further hearing in the case.
The court had on November 3 said it would issue interim guidelines to deal with the serious problem of dog bites in institutional areas where staff feed and shelter stray dogs.
The court is hearing the case on July 28, taking suo motu cognizance of a media report which suggested the spread of rabies, especially among children, due to the bites of stray dogs in the national capital.