Pay for every stray dog bite, death, SC's warning to states, feeders

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will ask states to pay a "heavy compensation" for dog-bite incidents as it flagged its concern over the lack of implementation of norms on stray animals for the past five years. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria said that even dog lovers and feeders will be held “responsible” and “accountable” for dog-bite incidents. "For every dog bite, death or injury caused to children or elderly, we are going to ask the state governments to pay heavy compensation, as they did not do anything on implementation of norms in the past five years. Also, responsibility and accountability will be fixed on those who are feeding these stray dogs. If you love these animals so much, then why don’t you take them to your house. Why should these dogs loiter around, bite and scare people?" Justice Nath said.

The top court, in July last year, had ruled that all stray dogs in Delhi and adjoining regions must be shifted away from residential localities to shelters, given the rising cases of dog bites leading to rabies deaths. According to the court, the dog shelters must have professionals who can tackle dogs, carry out sterilisation and immunisation, and not let the canines out. Terming the stray dog menace in the city as "extremely grim", the Supreme Court had warned that any individual or organisation blocking the picking up of stray dogs by authorities will face the "strictest action".