Supreme Court to start final hearing on culling of stray dogs tomorrow

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is likely to commence final hearing tomorrow on a bunch of petitions challenging the mass culling of stray dogs.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra will hear a bunch of petitions including Animal Welfare Board of India's plea to decide the issue of primacy of laws framed by Centre and state governments in this regard.

Animal Welfare Board of India had sought that the central law, which mandates birth control of street dogs through strict implementation of the Animal Birth Control Dogs Rules, be followed.

In its plea, the board had said that these Rules cast an obligation on municipalities to ensure sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs through the participation of animal welfare organisations, and then return them to the very location where they were picked up from.

Advocate Anjali Sharma, appearing for the board, said the Constitution made it a fundamental duty of all citizens of this country to treat every living creature with compassion.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to stay culling of stray dogs by the Thiruvananthapuram civic body on a PIL by advocate Anupam Tripathi and said the killing of the dangerous dogs and those inflicted with rabies should be guided by rules.

Declining to pass an interim order putting on hold the killing by Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation (MCT), it had said that the killing of the stray dogs should be guided by the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.