Courtesy FIAPO: In case of harassment for tending to/feeding stray dogs
Dear All,
Whenever some of you face / anticipate harassment re feeding of stray dogs, one needs to be clear on the legal rights, and those of the animals that you are tending to and feeding.
Firstly, the Constitution of India, vide its Article 51A (g), casts a fundamental duty upon every citizen of India to have compassion for living creatures. So in doing what you're doing, you're performing a fundamental duty.
Secondly, there is no law that prohibits tending to or feeding community animals. Neighbors who harass you, or an association that gets unnecessarily abrasive, can be told that their actions are tantamount to criminal intimidation, which is an offence under the Indian Penal Code.
As per Indian law - the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules enacted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act - street dogs cannot be beaten or driven way or displaced or dislocated. They can only be sterilized, vaccinated, and then returned back to the very location that they were picked up from. For your reference, I am attaching a scanned copy of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules with this mail. Please particularly refer to Rule 7, though all the Rules make interesting reading.
The logic behind returning the dogs back to the territories that they were picked up from is that dogs, being territorial in nature, fight off and keep other dogs from coming into their territories. If, however, they are removed permanently, other dogs come into the 'dog-free' vacuum that is thereby created. So the 'problem' continues.
I am also annexing with this mail, 2 Delhi High Court orders, dated 18th December, 2009, and 4th February, 2010, passed in the matter of 'Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals vs State and Others', and connected criminal writ petitions. The High Court recognized vide the same that feeding is an integral part of the sterilization and vaccination exercize, and actually directed that dog feeding spots should be identified within each locality. Pursuant to the passing of these orders, the Animal Welfare Board of India formulated dog feeding guidelines, which have been placed before the Court.
(Initially, vide the first order, the Court had directed that the AWBI will designate spots in consultation with RWAs and the police ; but vide the second order the task was entrusted only to the Board in tacit recognition of the fact that the AWBI is the expert body, and best suited to designate feeding spotS, and not just one feeding spot.)
I trust these will help you. For clarifications, if any, you can always revert to me.
Rgds
Anjali Sharma
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