Dog lovers differ on SC order

Mumbai: The Supreme Court’s Tuesday order on the euthanasia for the dogs that are rabid or are aggressive and dangerous has evoked a mixed reactions from animal lovers in Mumbai.

Pooja Sathe Gawande, a dog trainer, sees the order as a positive rule not just for the humans but also for the animal, who would otherwise go through a lot of pain. “The order is in the public interest for their health and safety. So the dogs that have rabies or are incurably ill, which means they cannot be cured at any private hospital or government hospital, should be euthanized,” she told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

“They have also mentioned that each state and union territory needs to have at least one working animal birth control centre. First of all, they need to set that up and get the animal birth control going on,” she said.

Shirin Dhabhar, a canine behaviourist and trainer, agrees to euthanasia in the case of terminally ill or injured dogs who are in a lot of pain. She said, “For rabies, there is no cure, and it’s a very painful disease, so it is much kinder to let the animal go. Dogs who meet terrible accidents that break their spines, and if the dog cannot be repaired or has a poor quality of life, then we should put them down peacefully. But it has to be done humanely with the veterinarian.”

Sarika Nerurkar, a photographer who has taken pictures of animal rescuers and activists across the country, differs. She said, “To be very honest, this entire situation just leaves me with a lot of questions. Who decides which dogs are to be euthanised? How does someone decide if a dog is actually rabid? What are the checks and controls in place to make sure this power isn’t misused? Because these are still living beings we’re talking about. And then I keep wondering, where does their right to life go in all of this? What about the lives of animals that literally cannot speak, advocate, or fight for themselves?”

Nerurkar said, “I understand that public safety is important, of course it is, but it feels deeply unfair and heartbreaking when the solution starts becoming the elimination of the weakest and most defenseless beings in society. Especially in a country where so many strays survive only because ordinary people choose to feed them, care for them, vaccinate them, and protect them. For me, this feels less like a solution and more like fear being imposed on beings that have no voice in the matter. And that’s what makes this so sad.”

Silent Death

The Supreme Court order also talks about killing dogs that cause harm to humans due to severe aggression and behaviour issues. The animal lovers differ on this point too. Gawande said, “Enforcing and blankly saying that removing all the dogs from the premises of railway stations, hospitals, and other places is not practically possible. The government cannot take all the dogs and dump them somewhere. They are living things and not dead objects.”

Dhabhar believes there is a lot of grey area in the matter. “When it comes to aggressive dogs, there is a lot of ambiguity because behaviour is not necessarily black and white. The key question is who is determining that the dog is dangerous here. The dog can bite for reasons like fear, the animal can be in pain, or maybe it's the mother dog protecting the baby. This could be one of the reasons, but it doesn’t mean that the dog will bite repeatedly. So who decides whether they are aggressive or not?”

Another animal lover Sandhya Wagle said, “As far as aggression is concerned, it can be cured by medicines. Also, they are not aggressive on their own; they are made aggressive. Animals can be made aggressive by human influence. So if you make an animal chase or bite, or try to catch, they can do it. If there are breeds that are aggressive, they can  be calmed down by medicines.”

An animal lover Erum Ali Qureshi said, “The idea for removing stray dogs from their places is wrong as they can relocate healthy, sterilised dogs from their territory, which they have been protecting for years. When you do that, you create a vacuum and invite unvaccinated dogs into the ecosystem. If you say you will kill every dog that will come in place, after a few generations, the dog will become aggressive and so feral that you will not be able to catch them, as they will become defensive. Then they will bite people.”