BENGALURU: With the GBA mulling and refining its stance on handling stray dogs in the city, in line with the Supreme Court’s suo motu order to restrict strays from institutional spaces, city-based activists have written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging the government to follow the due process and adopt World Health Organisation (WHO)-approved measures. The concerns also stem from the GBA’s recent decision to curtail the number of pet dogs a household can keep.
A delegation met Additional Chief Secretary to the CM, Anjum Parvez, urging the government to adhere to WHO-mandated birth control procedures. The letter by activists and rescuers from organisations like the People for Animals (Bengaluru) and Akhil Karnataka Prani Daya Sangha holds the state government constitutionally responsible as custodians of stray dogs and their welfare.
The letter states that pounds and shelters are no place to abandon stray animals. “Indiscriminate detention, relocation or elimination under the pretext of aggression is scientifically unsound and counterproductive, as it destabilises territorial balance, invites unvaccinated replacement populations, and heightens public health risks,” it says.
The activists also highlighted the increasing threat faced by community feeders — many of whom are women or senior citizens — following the Supreme Court’s order. Animal rescuer Sujatha Prasanna, who co-wrote the letter, termed the GBA’s move to restrict the number of dogs per household a flawed measure that bypasses effective enforcement of animal birth control rules across the city. “What about those who already have more dogs than the mandated number? Are they expected to abandon them,” she asked, adding the order may push owners to release pets onto the streets, increasing the stray population.