PANAJI
Goa’s stray dog population, as a proportion of the State’s human population, has tripled from three percent in 2014 to nine per cent in 2022, with the government’s own policy recording the 2022 ratio as nearly four times the global average.
The alarming number prompted the High Court of Bombay at Goa to seek official census figures and bring the Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying into the proceedings on the State’s management of street dogs. The Division Bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice S G Chapalgaonkar impleaded the Secretary of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying as a respondent to verify the figures, which translate to an estimated 1.5 lakh stray dogs.
The Union as well as the State Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services have been directed to submit the census data by next Tuesday, when the suo motu writ petition would be heard again. During the hearing on Thursday, the Goa Animal Federation placed before the court two government gazettes dated August 25, 2022, and November 24, 2022 on the stray dogs. The Bench noted that the August 2022 Gazette contained an amendment to the Goa Small Animal Rescue Management Scheme, 2014, which provides grants for sterilisation programs in the State, while the November 2022 gazette comprised the policy and guidelines for street and pet dog caregiving. The guidelines referred to a census conducted in the State. It also mentioned that the State Monitoring Committee, constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions, is required to ensure sterilisation of 70 percent of street dogs, including annual increases, within five years.
“According to the policy, the street dog population had risen from three percent of Goa’s total human population in 2014 to nine percent in 2022. The policy records this as nearly four times the global average. Considering the present population of Goa, that would put the figure of stray dogs at 1.5 lakh,” the Bench observed.
However, rather than treating the figure cited in the policy as conclusive, the court sought the census data from the authorities.
“Considering all these materials, we direct the Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Government of Goa, and the Secretary, Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, to file the census data with respect to street dogs within Goa by the next date,” the Bench ordered. The court accordingly impleaded the Union ministry’s Secretary as Respondent No. 34, and adjourned the matter to September 1.
The Bench also directed the State to keep an officer available in connection with the matter so that he could be contacted immediately if any information or clarification was required. The court further expressed displeasure with certain respondent municipalities over non-compliance with its earlier directions. “What are the chief officers doing?” it asked, inquiring whether the chief officers were holding additional charge.
