Animal rights activist Ambika Shukla criticises Supreme Court order on dogs

New Delhi [India], January 5 : Animal rights activist Ambika Shukla has strongly criticised a recent Supreme Court order related to dogs, alleging that it was issued without a proper basis and was not practically implementable.
Addressing ANI on Sunday, "At the time of independence, a slogan arose: 'Do or die.' Today, that same slogan is echoing again. Today, we are fighting for the freedom of dogs in the same way... The order issued by the Supreme Court was issued without any proper basis... It's a dangerous trend: the Supreme Court issues an order that cannot be implemented, forcing the administration to lie... The Supreme Court's order makes no mention of any expert opinion, no municipal data, no medical reports... We demand a proper hearing," she said.
Shukla demanded that the matter be heard again with due consideration of expert inputs. "We demand a proper hearing so that all stakeholders, including experts, are heard before such orders are passed," she said.
The activist asserted that animal welfare issues require evidence-based policymaking and cautioned against decisions that could create administrative and social challenges.
Earlier, BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Sunday said Supreme Court judges have done a "disservice" to the nation as the apex court's order to remove stray dogs from public spaces has "divided" the country.
The top court, in its recent order, instructed states to remove the stray dogs from the premises of hospitals, educational institutions, sports complexes, bus terminals, and railway stations in view of "alarming rise in dog bite incidents".
Speaking to reporters, Gandhi said, "Supreme Court has created an atmosphere of hate across India... What the judges have done is wrong by simply dividing India into people who hate one or love one species; through this, they have done a disservice to India.
The Animal Welfare Act is very good. They haven't removed the act. They have simply said that you can act against the act. This is not correct."
The apex court had taken a suo moto cognisance of the menace of stray dogs across the country. A three-judge bench on August 22 had modified a two-judge bench's August 11 order, which had directed the rounding up of all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR and prohibited their release from dog shelters.
The August 22 order stated that the stray dogs would be released back to the same area after sterilisation and immunisation, except for dogs that are infected with rabies or exhibit aggressive behaviour.
It had also restricted public feeding of stray dogs and directed the MCD to create dedicated feeding spaces in each municipal ward. It had further ordered that persons found feeding the dogs in contravention of its direction shall be liable to be proceeded with under the relevant framework.
The apex court had also expanded the scope of the proceedings on the menace of stray dogs and impleaded all states and Union Territories as parties to the case.
The August 11 order was limited to the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) area only.
The three-judge bench order came on pleas seeking a stay of the August 11 order of a two-judge bench to remove all stray dogs from localities in the Delhi-NCR region and place them in shelter homes.
On August 11, the top court ordered that all localities in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad be made free of stray dogs, with no compromise. Additionally, it made clear that no captured animal would be released back into the streets.