Delhi HC asks Animal Welfare Board, Vasant Kunj RWA to identify spot for feeding street dogs

New Delhi [India], February 27 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of Vasant Kunj to hold a meeting with residents of the area and the petitioners to identify a spot for feeding and taking care of street dogs.
A single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh directed AWBI to send two of its representatives to the RWA and hold a meeting on March 8 to decide on an appropriate spot for feeding the dogs.
During the meeting, the members of AWBI and RWA were asked to interact with the residents in the area, along with the petitioners, and identify a spot, "which is not used by children, senior citizens and other residents", so that the said specified spot can be used for the purpose of feeding and taking care of street dogs.
"Once the said spot is identified, the Petitioners would feed and take care of the street dogs at that particular spot, and no hindrance, whatsoever, shall be caused to the Petitioners in carrying out any activities in respect of the street dogs at the said spot," the court said.
The court said that the Station House Officer (SHO) of the area concerned should also be present at the time when the meeting would be held between the RWA and petitioners along with representatives of AWBI, and it will be the duty of the SHO concerned to ensure that peace and harmony is maintained amongst the residents of the area so that no harassment is caused to the Petitioners by RWA and vice versa.
The court order came while hearing a plea filed by Urvashi Vashist and two other animal lovers through lawyers Abhik Chimni and Lakshay Garg.
The petitioners, who give care to and feed the street dogs in Sector E Pocket 2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, have filed the petition against the Residents Welfare Association, which, according to them, is creating hindrances in feeding the street dogs and also in taking care of them.
Advocate Chimni, representing the petitioners submitted that whenever the petitioners are trying to feed the street dogs, enormous resistance is caused by the local residents.
The court noted that in an earlier order it had given various directions including one to AWBI, in consultation with the RWAs, to identify suitable spots in the various colonies for the feeding of street dogs.
"However, appears that there has been no consensus in identifying the suitable spot and the RWA appears to have been having apprehensions in view of the fact that children and senior residents also roam around in the open area of the block, for their own recreation," the court noted.