Menace of street dogs discussed in Supreme Court; SG Mehta calls it "serious issue"
Sep 11, 2023
New Delhi [India], September 11 : The street dog menace grabbed the attention of the Supreme Court when a lawyer attended the apex court hearing with a bandage and the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud inquired about the back story.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta called it a "serious issue".
CJI Chandrachud noticed that a lawyer in its court was having a bandage in his hand. CJI enquired from the lawyer about the incident that led to injuries.
The lawyer apprised the court that he was surrounded by five dogs and got bitten by them. When the CJI asked whether they were street dogs, the lawyer replied yes. CJI asked him if he needed assistance and medical help.
CJI also talked about one incident in which his law clerk was parking his car and was also attacked by a dog.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta called it a serious menace. SG Mehta also apprised the court that a child was bitten by dogs in Uttar Pradesh and later he got rabies. Doctors also give up as nothing can be done to cure the child. Later the child died in his father's lap.
Earlier on September 6, in Ghaziabad a 14-year-old boy who hid a dog bite for over a month from his parents out of fear, died of rabies, police said on Tuesday.
According to police, the incident occurred under the Vijay Nagar police station limits in Ghaziabad.
"Information was received at Vijay Nagar police station on September 5 that a 14-year-old boy had died due to a dog bite. Later it came to the fore that the deceased child's treatment couldn't be done as he had hidden the dog bite from his parents. A few days ago the child started showing symptoms of rabies. Only then the family members brought him to the hospital for his treatment. However, he died during the treatment," Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nimish Patel said.
The family members say that the 14-year-old had hidden the incident for over a month and a half out of fear from his parents.
The uncle of the deceased said that the stray dogs frequently attack people as they are not leashed and that this is not the first incident.
"The dogs are not leashed and they attack anyone and this is not the first incident. We have registered a complaint and the police are looking into the matter," the deceased's relative said.
