The Supreme Court issue order to civic bodies in Delhi-NCR to relocate all stray dogs living in local neighbourhoods to shelters. It create The Shelter Challenge. While animal lovers have slammed the ruling as “inhumane”, others have welcomed it said stated incidents of stray dogs attacking kids and people.
High number of stray dogs cause The Shelter Challenge
Around 5.6 lakh stray dogs were found to be living in Delhi, the country’s capital, in the latest dog Census in 2009. In the past 16 years, no such survey has been conducts; but estimates placed the number at around 10 lakh. Even if every shelter houses 500 dogs, it’ll still require 2,000 shelters. Currently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) runs just 20 animal management centres.
These facilities are for the short-term care of the dogs after they’re sterilised and released. Even if these centres are transformed into complete-fledged dogs shelters, they would still house no more than 5,000 animals — less than 5 % of the target.
Catching, Feeding Challenges
The creation of shelters is one of The Shelter Challenge in implementing the Supreme Court order. MCD presently has about 2-3 vans to catch dogs in each area, and not enough skilled handlers. So, removing all strays from residential places could be easier said than done. Also, animal lovers may face up to such attempts, mainly in tense situations in residential neighbourhoods.
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