HC reserves order on stray dogs

The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its judgment in the case debating welfare of stray dogs.

Earlier, justice S Radhakrishnan, DB Bhosale and VK Tahilramani had suggested relocation of stray dogs  to dog pounds outside city limits.

 In an affidavit submitted,  BMC had stated that this will  cost Rs198 crore. The affidavit had also stated, “It is questionable whether BMC should spend crores of rupees on feeding stray dogs when we do not do so for poor people in Mumbai who are starving.”

The court was also informed that as per the dog census of October 2007, there are 70,182 stray dogs in Mumbai and 26,900 are pets.

The petitioner In Defence of Animals, an NGO, had submitted that the idea of ‘killing dogs’ for controlling their population is barbaric, and unconstitutional. However, backing the BMC in its strategy, the  government on Friday said that under the provisions of the BMC Act, the corporation had a right to eliminate strays.