By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 4: Residents of Shillong, including animal lovers and dog feeders, staged a protest on Sunday against a Supreme Court directive mandating the removal of stray dogs from public places such as educational institutions, hospitals, bus stands, sports complexes and railway stations.
The apex court has directed all states and Union Territories to relocate stray dogs to designated shelters after sterilisation and vaccination, in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Ahead of the next hearing scheduled for January 7, protesters assembled at Khyndailad, holding placards and raising slogans demanding an immediate stay on what they described as mass removal and confinement of community dogs. Placards read “Awara nahin hamara hai”, “Compassion and co-existence”, and “ABC and vaccination are important”.
Animal lover Tamanna Rahman told reporters that the protest was a spontaneous citizens’ initiative and not backed by any organisation. She termed the court’s order impractical and warned that indiscriminate removal of dogs could create new problems.
“No one even knows the exact number of dogs. Without proper data, building shelters is unrealistic. Removing dogs will also disrupt the local feeder system, where people know and care for the animals,” Rahman said.
She argued that friendly, vaccinated community dogs help keep unfamiliar and potentially aggressive dogs away, adding that mass relocation could increase dog-bite incidents. Drawing a parallel with the COVID-19 pandemic, she cautioned that housing large numbers of dogs in shelters could lead to the spread of diseases.
Rahman cited Goa, Mumbai, and Sikkim as examples where sustained sterilisation and vaccination drives have helped reduce stray dog populations and rabies cases. “These models have reduced man-dog conflict. There is no reason such proven strategies cannot be adopted here,” she said.
Another protester, Saptaparna Singh, who has been rescuing and caring for stray dogs for nearly a decade, said the proposal to confine dogs in shelters was neither humane nor practical.
“We have been feeding, rescuing, sterilising and vaccinating dogs for nine years. Shelters cannot replace community care. For dogs, a shelter is like a prison,” Singh said, adding that local feeders play a crucial role in monitoring and caring for the animals.
She also highlighted the role of street dogs in community safety, particularly at night, and urged authorities to reconsider the approach. “We need scientifically proven, compassionate solutions, not blanket removal,” she said.
