SC hauls up states, UTs over stray dog attacks

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over stray dog bite incidents continuing despite its directions, Supreme Court on Monday summoned chief secretaries of all states and UTs - except Bengal and Telangana - for failing to inform it about steps taken to implement the Animal Birth Control rules. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria took strong exception to states not responding to its notice or filing compliance affidavits in the two months since its Aug 22 order. "Continuous incidents are happening and the country's image is going down in the eyes of foreign nations. We also read news reports," the bench said. The apex court directed the chief secretaries to appear before it on Nov 3 and explain the non-compliance. Noting that the rules are uniform nationwide and the menace of dog bites exists in every state, SC had earlier expanded the scope of the case beyond Delhi-NCR and issued notices to all states and UTs. It had sought details from animal husbandry and local body departments on the compliance measures. At Monday's hearing, SC was informed that only Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had filed responses. Rejecting some states' claims that notices were not served, the bench said its order had been widely reported and warned of punitive action for further lapses. "Your clients don't read newspapers? Everyone reported this," it remarked. On Aug 22, SC had stayed an order to permanently remove stray dogs but allowed sterilisation, inoculation and deworming drives, and restricted feeding of strays to designated spots.