Case Name: Paromita Puthran Vs The Municipal Corporation
The division bench of Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice RN Laddha of Bombay High Court directed the society in Mumbai to lodge a complaint against security guards who uses sticks to scare animals.
“Insofar as the Security Guards causing any scare/threat to the animals by using sticks is concerned, we direct the society to entertain complaints from the petitioner and other members of the society in this regard, so that appropriate action can be taken against such Security Guards who are indulging in such actions. This would be necessary as we are of the clear opinion that such coercive methods would certainly amount to an act of cruelty to the animals. This apart, such methods being used by the Security Guards or any other persons would aggravate the behavior of the animals, apart from inflicting cruelty to the animals”.
Justice said, as the urban area is growing day by day in our country, people are facing the issue of street animals more and more. Many casualties and road accidents take place due to stray animals. This problem and its solution are certainly very complicated and requires action from authorities as well as from citizens.
The bench further added that they have heard cases of street dogs biting and hurting people many times. Though cases are certainly not in big percentage relative to the numbers of stray dogs in India. Such animals are generally playful and have affectionate behavior towards humans.
The bench was hearing the petition filed by one resident of the society Paromita Puthran over a dispute that the society was disallowing her to feeding the dogs and seeking a designated feeding areas in housing society for stray dogs.
The court held that “The parties need to amicably resolve the dispute as it should not be that drinking water is not provided to the dogs. It would be an obligation of the residents of the society to always make provision for adequate water to be made available to the animals more particularly considering the onset of the summer season”.
