‘Strictly comply with rules on capture, release of stray dogs for special events’

: Delhi High Court has asked the authorities to strictly comply with all provisions relating to the capture and the release of street dogs for special events such as Independence Day and Republic Day. The order — released on Wednesday — came on a public interest litigation by Anita Santiago, who sought directions to release the dogs captured by the civic authorities for such events and to ensure their welfare according to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023.

The petitioner highlighted the ABC Rules mandate that the dogs should be identified with numbered collars immediately upon capture to maintain proper records that would subsequently facilitate their release in the same locality from where they were captured.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) counsel said it is following the ABC Rules and, as far as the G20 Summit was concerned, the process to release the captured strays has already been initiated.