COIMBATORE: A row erupted in the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) council meeting on Wednesday when a councillor urged the civic body to kill the stray dogs, pointing out the act that allows the killing of dogs in Delhi city. While a few supported his demand, many opposed it.
Speaking at the meeting, Ward 71 councillor A Alagu Jayabalan demanded the killing of stray dogs across the city. Alagu Jayabalan, who is the Congress party’s floor leader in the council, said, “The rising stray dog menace is an important issue in our city that needs to be addressed immediately.
A special act that’s in place in Delhi allows the killing of stray dogs. It is the same place where Menaka Gandhi, who is an ardent advocate of animal rights, is residing. So we can implement the same act in Coimbatore and kill stray dogs to keep the rising population under check. The CCMC must check that particular and the feasibility and try to carry out the same here.”
However, only a few councillors supported him while the majority opposed the killing. Ward 22 councillor M Kovai Babu Selvakumar criticised him and said, “No one has any right to kill a dog or any other living creature on this planet. All living creatures need to coexist in the world. The civic body must not encourage such things.”
Central Zone Chairperson and ward 46 councillor Meena Logu too opposed his idea of killing the dogs and said animal activists would jump into a protest against it. Deputy Commissioner Dr M Sharmila intervened and said that killing dogs is prohibited under the Animal Cruelty Act and they would check the Act that’s implemented in Delhi and take a final call on it.