By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 15: The High Court of Meghalaya has directed the state to take immediate steps to constitute a committee within four weeks to oversee the implementation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme according to the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.
The directive was based on a public interest litigation filed by Kaustav Paul seeking measures to check the stray dog menace by catching the canines, sterilising them, and rehabilitating them in dog shelters.
“From time to time, the court has passed orders to contain this menace. The scope and effect of our orders up to now has been confined to Shillong,” the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh said.
The court noted that the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) did not have adequate facilities to keep these stray animals and that its order made the state provide a shelter temporarily.
The court said SMB set up “some kind of an animal shelter” but it cannot house all the stray dogs.
The SMB said it is acquiring land to build a permanent shelter to which all the animals in the state would be shifted.
The petitioner, however, pointed out that these measures might not prove to be effective for two reasons. First, the order only covers Shillong when the stray dog menace is statewide, and secondly, the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules promulgated under sub-section (11) of Section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, have not been enforced.
Paul pointed out that Rule 4 provides for the formation of a committee comprising the commissioner or the chief of the local authority, who would be the ex-officio chairman, representatives of Public Health Animal Welfare, the district society for the said Act, animal welfare organisations, and a humanitarian or a well-known individual.
He contended that this committee be formed forthwith and function according to Rule 5. The functions include the measures the court directed to be taken in respect of the stray animals and cover the entire state.
Under the circumstances, the court said the scope and ambit of the writ would cover the whole of Meghalaya.
“The commissioners of the districts and the District Council shall be served copies of the writ petition along with the orders passed therein by the advocate-on-record for the state within a week from the date,” the court said.
The state government was directed to take immediate steps within four weeks from the date of the order to form a committee according to Rule 4 of the dog-related rules.
“Thereafter, the committee shall discharge its functions according to Rule 5. The commissioners, along with the District Council and the local municipal authority, shall carry out our orders in their districts,” the court said.