BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the state and central governments, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and others in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Save Our Animals Charitable Trust and environmental activist Naveena Kamath.
The PIL challenges the BBMP's Request for Proposal (RFP) for implanting microchips in street dogs.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind issued the notices after hearing arguments on the petition, which questions the legality of the RFP dated February 29, 2024. The court has adjourned the case for further hearing on December 16.
Senior counsel representing the petitioners argued, "The BBMP has no legal mandate to issue a bid for microchipping to be implanted in dogs to control street dogs since the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, do not permit the same. The BBMP lacks the authority to constitute a committee to monitor the procedure, and there was no permission from the Animal Welfare Board of India. The entire process of issuing a bid is illegal."
The petitioners alleged that the Joint Director of the BBMP had proposed implementing microchipping as a pilot project in the West and RR Nagar zones, with plans to extend it to the remaining six zones of the BBMP.
Despite submitting several representations to the relevant authorities opposing the proposal, their concerns have not been addressed.
The petitioners further contended that microchipping is an additional procedure under the ABC Rules, 2023, and street dogs would need to be caught multiple times, which could leave them traumatised, unduly stressed, or aggressive.
They argued, "Unwarranted efforts by the agencies concerned to catch dogs just to scan for microchips to find their vaccination status will lead to more defensive behaviour by these dogs."
Citing Rule 8 (2) of the ABC Rules, 2023, the petitioners noted that specific approval is granted only for deworming, sterilisation, and general immunisation of street dogs. There is no mention of microchipping as part of these approved procedures.
The petitioners asserted, "There is no specific approval for the microchipping procedure for street dogs. Such an invasive procedure on such a large scale is unprecedented globally for free-ranging, ownerless animals. Globally, microchipping is done only for owned dogs. The street dogs of Bengaluru cannot be made to undergo some trial of microchipping."
The PIL questions the legality and ethicality of subjecting free-roaming street dogs to a trial procedure that, according to the petitioners, has no precedent or scientific backing.