Women beat up activist over feeding stray dogs

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Women-beat-up-activist-over-feeding-stray-dogs/articleshow/18298885.cms

NAVI MUMBAI: Animal activist Rinki Banerjee (30), on Thursday, lodged a non-cognizable complaint against a group of women, who allegedly beat her up for supporting the cause of feeding stray dogs in Sector 11 at the New Panvel police station.

On Thursday, Banerjee went to Sector 11 after resident Sandhya Parekh informed her that locals were not allowing her to feed strays. "The women, who claimed to be from a political party, surrounded me. One of the women pulled my hair and started slapping me, while others egged her on," said Banerjee. "When I started hitting the woman back, they retreated".

Parekh said: "The locals must realise that it is our constitutional right to feed animals."

The women have lodged a cross-NC against Parekh for encouraging "dog menace" in the area. Health officer of Cidco N R Parab admitted that the women were wrong in beating up the activist. "They had complained to Cidco about a few strays. We had taken two dogs to our kennel; will sterilize them and release them in the area," Parab said.

Meanwhile, the stray puppy, which was found dead in Vijay Nagari Annex Housing Society in Thane on January 26, was punched to death.

"The Thane police has to collect the post-mortem report from the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," said Bhawanji Chhadwa of Sadbhavna Charitable Trust.He added that the mouth of the puppy was stuffed with a cloth in order to muffle its cries of pain. I hope that the police catch the cruel culprit soon, as this harmless pup has suffered a painful death,'' added Chhadwa. TOI had first mentioned about this stray puppy earlier this week.

Court clears duo arrested, humiliated for feeding dogs

Two animal lovers from Thane, who were arrested and humiliated two years ago after a stray dog they used to feed allegedly bit a resident, have finally been acquitted, with a magistrate court ruling that feeding strays was not a crime.

The order provides welcome relief for animal lovers in the city, many of whom are pulled up by their housing societies for taking care of strays. Only recently, well-known director Partho Ghosh had a quarrel with his society management when he was fined Rs 1000 in his maintenance bill for feeding two stray dogs. His family, incidentally, had been taking care of them since they were pups.

This order is only the first victory for Sanjeev Dighe and Yatin Mhatre, who are fighting a separate case in High Court against the State and the police for handcuffing them and parading them around their society. In this, they are being represented by Mahesh Jethmalani and have the backing of, among others, Maneka Gandhi.

For Dighe, a commercial artist, and Mhatre - both residents of Lok Puram complex in Thane - the nightmare started on September 20, 2009. The duo had been feeding strays in their locality for several years, something that had led to many altercations with society members. Dighe says the residents believed this would lead to an increase in the stray dog population in the area.

That night, Dighe was getting ready to go out and feed the strays around 10.45 pm when a posse of cops arrived in a private vehicle and asked him to accompany them to Vartak Nagar Police Station. Mhatre accompanied him there, and a few hours later, the duo were booked under Section 289 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with animals in a particular person's care attacking someone.

The next morning, both were handcuffed and taken to their society, where they were paraded around, ostensibly to show other residents what happened to people who fed strays. They were then taken to a holiday court, which released them on bail.

In a recent order, Jaishree Poonawala, judicial magistrate first class, remarked that "feeding stray dogs is not a crime", adding that strays were not the same as pets and certainly not the sole responsibility of those who feed them.

"After our arrest, Maneka Gandhi personally got involved and helped us file the petition in HC through Mahesh Jethmalani," said Dighe. This order itself has come as a huge relief to Mhatre and Dighe. "Finally justice has prevailed. Several people like me are often victimised by residents who do not like others feeding strays. We hope this order will help others like us," said Dighe.

Ajay Marathe, a noted animal rights activist, pointed out that incidents of animal lovers being victimised were common in Mumbai. "Those who feed dogs in their area are treated badly. Most residents are against such feeding and come up with random rules to stop them," said Marathe.

RK Joshi, convener of Committee to Monitor Animal Welfare Laws in Maharashtra, has recently written to the BMC commissioner highlighting the issue of societies trying to get rid of stray dogs.

He has pointed out that years after Bombay High Court laid down the guidelines for dealing with stray dogs - the HC has put an emphasis on animal birth control and sterilisation - people continued to harass dogs and animal lovers.

"There is growing tendency in housing societies not to permit stray dogs on the society premises or even in the vicinity. There have been instances when dogs are brutally assaulted by the society members or the watchmen," the letter states, adding that instances of animal lovers being assaulted were common. The letter urges the commissioner, who is also the chairman of the Monitoring Committee, to urgently look at these issues and ensure that animal lovers and dogs were not harassed.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012040220120402074148526b20c003b/Court-clears-duo-arrested-humiliated-for-feeding-dogs.html 

High Court gives green signal for ‘dog-feeding’ sites

Voicing its approval for designated “dog feeding spots” for stray canines in the city, the Delhi High Court on Friday disposed of a bunch of petitions by animal activists. The petitioners had moved the court to seek protection for dogs from “intimidating” residents, so they could be fed without any hassle.

Justice M L Mehta disposed of the petitions after asking the Delhi government, Police department, MCD, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), various residents’ welfare associations and animal rights activists to work in tandem, so feeding spots could be earmarked for canines across the city. He further stated that judicial orders passed in the previous proceedings, relating to creation of designated spaces to feed stray dogs, will attain finality through Monday’s order.

Justice Mehta also asked the RWAs, which had opposed designation of feeding spots in their premises because “it would result in stray dogs biting the residents”, to sort out the contentious issues in consultation with the AWBI and civic authorities.

Advocate Anjali Sharma, appearing for the AWBI, pledged full support to the previous directives of the court and said that sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs would be possible through feeding and confining dogs to the localities they inhabit.

Sharma further informed the court that the Board was proactively working towards designating dog-feeding spots across the city after due deliberations with the RWAs, local police and civic body officials. The AWBI’s earlier affidavit in court had also clarified that the dogs would be tended only in parts of a colony that are less frequented by the public. Streets, footpaths and entrances to houses would be strictly avoided, it had stated.

A previous court judgement had held that feeding dogs was both lawful and helpful, and would help the civic body sterilise and vaccinate them through the municipal animal birth control programme. The court had passed these orders on petitions filed by animal welfare NGOs from Vasant Kunj, Defence Colony, Kalkaji, Neb Sarai, Saket, Geeta Colony and Nangloi — seeking protection while they tend to their dogs.

Seeking the court’s intervention so the government can protect their dogs’ “life and limb”, the petitioners accused the police of “apathy” while acting on their complaints of harassment. While police said it was the civic body’s job to protect canines, animal rights activists cited provisions of the Stray Animal Control Rules (Dogs)-2001, meant to prevent cruelty to street dogs.