The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and Kerala Government for compensating victims of stray dog bites.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and PC Pant issued notice on a PIl filed by a Kerala-based NGO Janaseva Sisubhavan based in Ernakulam. The NGO which houses over 300 children complained that in the recent past several incidents of dog bites had resulted in injury to children.
The NGO through advocate VK Biju produced news clippings to show that children were becoming innocent victims of stray dog menace and were even inflicted with serious injuries due to dog bite.
The bench noted, “In essence, the submission of petitioner is that there has to be implementation of Sections 9(f) and 11(3)(b)(c) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Section 438 of Kerala Municipality Act, 1994. Appreciating the submission that the children are fundamental embodiment of human race and they deserve protection from any kind of attack by the stray dogs, we are inclined to issue notice.” The petition will be heard with related matters on dog culling.
While children were afraid to venture out of their homes freely, even daily wagers who begin their day early are finding it difficult to carry out their daily tasks due to stray dogs. Since the petitioner organisation deals with rehabilitation of street children, it said that street children were proving to be soft targets for stray dogs on the prowl in streets.
The petition further said that incidents of stray dog bites were on the rise. According to figures produced by the petition, the incidence of dog bites had increased from 88178 to one lakh per year in the country. Till June 2015, 11 persons had died due to rabid dog bite. The petition sought proper medical care, rehabilitation and compensation for victims on a national level.