Much cheer to the animal rights activists, the Nainital High Court has directed the State Government to ensure that provisions contained in the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001 were implemented in Uttarakhand within six months.
With this, the State government will now have to ensure ABC campus for feral dogs and other measures for dog sterilisation in every municipal corporation, municipality and Nagar Panchayat area. PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi had filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking implementation of the provisions contained in Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001 by the State Government and authorities under it.
The petition sought that the Principal Secretary, Urban Development be directed to create a regular budgetary allocation to discharge obligations imposed upon the local authorities under Rule 6 of the ABC Rules, 2001, to instruct the Urban Development department to create ABC campus for feral dogs in each urban area based on the human population and to direct the Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board and the Animal Welfare Board of India to strictly monitor and ensure that the district SPCAs in the entire State participate actively in the implementation of the ABC programme. She had sought that the Urban Development department be directed to ensure that all local bodies have adequate trained staff and suitable vehicles for catching, transporting and sterilising stray dogs and to ensure that no dog killing or relocation is done in any district or township as it is blatantly illegal and unscientific.
The petition had urged that the Urban Development department to adequately ensure by means of suitable advertisements that all resident welfare associations are adequately apprised that feeding and looking after stray dogs is an act of compassion required to be performed as a fundamental duty by each citizen as per Article 51A of the Indian Constitution and must therefore not be opposed or challenged.
Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board had also filed an affidavit, where it had indicated that time has come to implement the provisions of the said Rules. A HC bench comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Servesh Kumar Gupta directed that respective departments of the State should implement the ABC Rules as quickly as possible, but not later than six months from March 4.