BBMP (Municipal Corporation of Greater Bangalore) has impleaded itself in the Supreme Court litigation against the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and in support of the the respondent People for Elimination of Stray Troubles (PEST) in the Special Leave Petition (Civil) No 691/ 2009 to ask for CULLING OF STRAY DOGS – something that they successfully and illegally resorted to in 2007.
Some things stand out in the application that are being summarized here:
Duplicity of stand wrt AWBI
- It is noteworthy that Dr Parvez Piran (Jt Director of Animal Husbandry, BBMP) has asked the AWBI lawyer for the SLP 691/2009 late in 2011 for BBMP to implead. And upon the filing of the impleadment petition completely denied any involvement in the BBMP’s legal process!
It is surprising that the ‘competent authority’ on ABC in BBMP has not been involved in the data and argument that is made by BBMP to the Supreme Court
- The language of the impleadment would be funny of not tragic for the dogs of Bangalore. It says the purpose is not to “…litigate against the petitioners (AWBI) but it is to assist the Hon’ble Court ..” then goes on to make the case about killing all stray dogs as er the Karnataka Municipal Act and please to the court to declare the ABC (Dog) rule ultra-vires.
- Para 5 of the petition says the ‘.. the petitioners (AWBI) approach is not in consonance with existing laws and provisions of the constitution of India…”
- Para 6 says that ABC rules violate Para 11 of PCA which prohibits any person from abandoning an animal’ but dear BBMP these stray dogs were not owned dogs to begin with!
BBMP’s cites incomplete information and hides its own incompetence
- BBMP cites 2 dog killings in 2007 (which is what they used to call for the absolutely illegal dog cull in 2007) and killing of 1 child in Bagalur – that was later determined to be a killing by siblings. Says nothing of the location and circumstance (the area was full of garbage and will be a subject of an upcoming article) that BBMP has done nothing to change since.
- BBMP cites incidence of human rabies as 20 in 2000 and NIL since 2003 to present other than 2009-2010 (2 deaths) in Bangalore and YET makes a claim that ABC/ARV is NOT working!
- Para 27 – Sandeep’s killing by stray dogs has been referred to – but VoSD’s investigation had conclusively proved that dogs were NOT responsible for this killing.
- BBMP cites 21,586 dog bites in 2009-2010 i.e Bangalore’s dogs are biting an average of 60 dog bites everyday. In a city where EVERY dog bite makes headline news where are these dog bites being reported?
Oh yes – these are being reported in the ‘complaint calls’ which we have monitored and reported on. Since dogs can’t be picked up and/or removed for ANY reason other than ‘dog bite’ all complaints are lodged as ‘dog bites’.
Shifting responsibility to common citizens, activists and NGO’s
- Para 25 says “….animal activists must be made legally and financially accountable, responsible and liable for the suffering and loss of life inflicted on the citizens by stray dogs”!
BBMP is clearly making a case for killing ALL stray dogs in Bangalore
- BBMP’s petition states ‘… there should be NO release of homeless/owner-less dogs onto the streets by either the municipal corporation or by ANY NGO’s assisting in ABC – implying that ALL dogs should be KILLED
- Para 24 AWO should shelter ‘as many homeless animals as they are receiving public funds’. BY IMPLICATION if there are no funds to keep animals they will be KILLED
BBMP has collusion with ‘Stray Dog Free Bangalore’ and its representatives in this petition.
- Para 18 says that ‘ABC is neither scientific nor holistic’. This is the exact same claim made by SDFB in its petition and on television using EXACTLY the same phraseology in its arguments in its petition.
- Para 25 ‘activists of the animal welfare NGO’s must be made legally and financially accountable’ for ‘suffering and loss of life of citizens. Here too in a televised interview of 2001 in the presence of the then mayor of Bangalore the founder of SDFB had used EXACTLY the same language and has been SDFB’s position in an earlier petition
BBMP out to prove that ABC does not work and its a failed process
- BBMP is out to prove that its own ABC program is a failure when they have not done anything to make it work or monitor it effectively. We’ve reported this in over 20 in-depth articles in the last 6 months.
- Para 16 says: NGOS’ operate in a selective manner and where they wish to act’ but all AWOs are on the pay of the Municipal Corporations and act where they are tenders for ABC – where is the ‘selectiveness of the process on the part of the AWO then?
- Para 17 says that ‘ABC rules have been applied in Bangalore since 1998 selectively and with disastrous results’. IMPLYING that the mass killing prevalent before 1998 should be resorted to.
- Para’s 10, 14, 24 ask for the ABC (D) Rules should be STRUCK DOWN
BBMP’s energies would be best spent in cleaning the city, and monitoring the ABC program both acts that it has completely failed to do.
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