NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court has sought the stand of the Centre and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on a petition challenging the civic body’s power to “detain” and “destroy” unregistered and unclaimed dogs found wandering in public places. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued the notice on a plea by Kamini Khanna, who claimed that she had moved the plea “on behalf of all dogs of Delhi”. Claiming that “the recent incidents of dog bites in Noida and Ghaziabad were staged”, the petition challenged a recent MCD advisory asking citizens to register their pets in light of the rise in dog-bite cases and sought a direction to restrain the authorities from removing, killing or harming any street dog. The petitioner claimed that Section 399 of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 enabled MCD to “kill dogs in an arbitrary manner”, which was in direct conflict with Article 51 of the Constitution and the law on animal protection. Emphasising on the fundamental right to life, the plea said it was the duty of every citizen as well as the state to safeguard animals and the environment and the provisions under challenge “encourage cruelty against dogs”. “Under subsection 1(d) of Section 399, a detained dog, if not claimed within one week, would be destroyed or otherwise disposed of unless it is claimed and the fee is paid. Under subsection 2(b), the MCD commissioner through a public notice can direct… (that) dogs without marks, distinguishing them as private property, found straying on the streets or beyond the enclosure of the houses of their owners, may be destroyed,” the plea argued.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-plea-contests-order-to-detain-and-destroy-unclaimed-dogs/articleshow/95019341.cms