Why did Supreme Court of India put a ban on killing street dogs?

Sort answer - Supreme court has not banned killing of dogs altogether. Supreme Court order on stray dog killings may come as a huge relief for dog lovers

DOGS

Dog history is really the history of the partnership between dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and humans. That partnership is based on a human need for help with herding and hunting, for an early alarm system, and for a source of food in addition to the companionship many of us today know and love.

Dogs are a kind of wolf. They were the first animals that people fed on purpose, earlier than sheep or cows or chickens. People have been taking care of dogs in Central Asia since about 13,000 BC, in the Stone Age, before the beginning of farming (and possibly much earlier; maybe as long as 100,000 years ago, before people left Africa). Most likely, dogs themselves began this relationship by hanging around people's campsites (there weren't any villages yet), trying to snatch some of their garbage to eat.

In the wild dogs were part of a food chain and the population is controlled. Since they are not wild animals they don’t have any natural predator as such. Hence they multiplied to large numbers.

RABIES VACCINES MARKET (Pharma Industry)

Rabies is the 10th biggest cause of death due to infectious diseases worldwide. Among this, 36% occurs in India.

[Across Asia the annual expenditure due to rabies is estimated to be reaching 563 million USD(Rs. 37,737,580,350 ). It is known that $25 million(Rs. 16,76,011,250 ie over 16 thousand crore) are spent on Post Exposure Prophylaxis in India annually. Around 40% of Post Exposure Prophylaxis is given to children below the age of 15yrs.]

The cost of Pneumococcal vaccination in the Indian private sector ranges between Rs.8000 and Rs.16000 for a complete course and for rotavirus, it ranges between Rs.2000 and Rs.4000. This course is given free at PMC-run hospitals and government bear the expense.

INDIA

As per recent National guidelines for prevention of rabies in India 2013, dogs are responsible for about 97% of human rabies, followed by cats (2%), jackals, mongoose and others (1%).Every two seconds, one person is bitten by a dog in India. The WHO estimates the stray dog population to be around 25 million in India(2.5 crore), with an estimated dog: man ratio of 1:36 in India.

India accounts for more than one third of the world’s total rabies deaths. National Multi centric Rabies Survey, conducted in 2003 by the Association for Prevention and Control of Rabies in India in collaboration with the World Health Organization reported that there were 20, 565 deaths from rabies per year in India.More than 10, 00,000 people undergo anti-rabies vaccination every year.

WHO

WHO aims to eliminate rabies in Asia by 2020, but this won’t be possible as long as India remains on the danger list. According to WHO, India would need to vaccinate 70 percent of the total dog population in a very short span and maintain immune coverage through control of dog movement.

SUPREME COURT

As the Supreme Court observed, “There can be no trace of doubt that there has to be compassion for dogs and they should not be killed in an indiscriminate manner, but indubitably the lives of the human beings are to be saved, and one should not suffer due to dog bite because of administrative lapse.”

Expressing concern over increasing number of loss of human life due to dog bites, the bench said said that human life needed to be protected and menace of stray dogs must be controlled. "Stray dogs cannot be allowed to go stray to puncture the life of human being. The matter needs to given serious consideration," the bench said.

Killing a house pet can attract a jail term of up to five years. But stray dog is not a pet dog, it is nuisance which pause threat to humans .

STRAY DOG

Most free-roaming dogs belong to an ancient canine race known as the Pariah Dog, which has existed all over Asia and Africa ever since human beings started living in settlements. They are, and have always been, scavengers–that is, they live on garbage created by humans. In India the breed has existed for perhaps 14,000 years or more.

 The size of stray dog populations always corresponds to the size and character of the human population of the area. Urban India has two features which create and sustain stray dog populations:

1) Large amounts of exposed garbage, which provide an abundant source of food

 2) A huge population of slum and street-dwellers, who often keep the dogs as free-roaming pets

CONCLUSION

In Nagaland one kilo of dog meat costs more than Rs 300. There are several hotels, especially in the state capital and commercial hub Dimapur, that serve dog meat. Dogs are even imported from outside the state as dog meat is considered as having high medicinal value and high nutrition. Government is trying to put an end to it.

The Indian Penal Code does not specifically recognize offences against animals and crimes like killing or maiming, which are dealt under the category of offences against "property" of people and this excludes stray animals as they are not "assets". This means that killing stray cattle, for example, is covered under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act which prescribes a fine of Rs 50.

1. Why do stray dog exist ?
2. India’s ongoing war against rabies(WHO)
3. http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr...(Cost Analysis of Post Exposure Prophylaxis of Rabies in A Tertiary Care Centre- A Cross Sectional Study)
4. Costs Analysis of a Population Level Rabies Control Programme in Tamil Nadu, India
5. Govt prioritises rotavirus and pneumococcal disease vaccination under immunisation programme
6. http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDet...
7. Supreme Court to fix harsh penalty for killing strays - Times of India
8. Supreme Court appoints committee to gauge stray dog menace - Times of India
9. Nagaland is in process of banning dog meat