Apex Court Issues Notice On Plea By Kannur District Panchayath Seeking Euthanization Of Stray Dogs

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Kerala government and other respondents in an Interim Application filed by the Kannur District Panchayath seeking euthanization of dangerous stray dogs in a humane manner in the Kannur district in Kerala. The matter was mentioned before the vacation bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice M M Sundresh.

While mentioning the matter, Advocate Biju P. Raman for the Panchayath stated that a differently abled Child was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs at Kannur on June 11. The bench, while expressing concern, said, "Very unfortunate. But what have you been doing here since 2015?"  The Counsel replied by saying that they were trying and that the Court was seized of the matter. The Counsel said that the prayer in the application is for the euthanization of stray dogs. 

Advocate Jasmine appearing for a respondent submitted that the matter is tagged with the main matter and that everyone in the main matter was not given notice of the mentioning. She stated that "there is a culture, a very recent culture, there is a trend of killing dogs in Kerala and it has resulted in a lot of problems".

The court while issuing notice to the Kerala government, stated, "On the oral request, the matter has been taken on board. Issue notice for the date fixed, that is July 12. Counter-affidavit, if any be filed on or before July 7".

The Interim application filed by District Panchayath Kannur states that an 11-year-old autistic child was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs at Kannur on June 11, 2023. The inquest and autopsy report of the deceased child revealed the horrific nature of the attack as bite marks and scratches were seen all across his body, including deep injuries behind his neck and ear, also a part of his thigh was bitten off by the stray dogs. The application says that last year a similar incident happened in the Kottayam District of Kerala where a minor of 12 years died due to stray dog attack.

As per the application, in the district itself, 65 ducks and a large number of domestic animals have been killed by violent stray dogs recently. The applicant has stated that efforts to control the situation are being made and that due to the stray dogs, there is an increase in road accidents. The application presented the statics of dog attacks. 7927 cases were reported in 2021 and there was a significant increase as 11776 cases were reported in 2022 and 6276 cases are reported up to June 19, 2023, in Kannur District as per the applicant.

Cause Title: State of Kerala & Ors. Vs. M.R. Ajayan ( IA No. 117316/2023 in Civil Appeal No. 5947/2019)