Uttar Pradesh, once notorious for its criminals and gangsters, now sees them languishing in jails. And that same treatment might be extended to street dogs that won't stop biting. The Yogi Adityanath government last week announced new rules under which repeat-biter dogs will be locked up for life in shelters.
The order in UP comes weeks after the Supreme Court, in a suo motu move, directed civic bodies in Delhi-NCR to round up all stray dogs, sterilise them, and keep them in shelters.
This sparked a hue and cry from animal rights groups while aggrieved victims supported the move, leaving Indians divided.
In an escalation of the state's zero-tolerance policy regarding public safety, the Uttar Pradesh government issued a directive on September 10, targeting aggressive stray dogs amid a surge in bite incidents.
The government's order to all urban and rural civic bodies outlined a structured protocol.
Veterinary and Animal Welfare Officer at Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, Vijay Amritraj, said that the order laid out an extensive approach to fight the menace of street dogs in Uttar Pradesh.
"On 10 September, the Uttar Pradesh Administration passed an order that if any dog has bitten a human without provocation, then it will be kept in an animal centre for 10 days. If the dog is sterilised, it will be released back to its original place with microchipping," Vijay Amritraj told news agency ANI.
"If the dog bites a human for the second time, then this dog will be kept in the animal centre for the remainder of its life," he added.
The Delhi government is also planning to implant microchips in a million street dogs in two years.
In the case of Uttar Pradesh, Amritraj added, however, that if anyone wishes to adopt such a dog, they must commit to keeping it for its entire lifetime. Adopters must also sign an affidavit guaranteeing lifelong care and prohibiting abandonment, ensuring they don't return to the streets.
The UP government's move aligns with the national Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023, which emphasises humane management of the problem. The move follows escalating cases of attacks by street dogs, with Uttar Pradesh reporting thousands of cases annually.
This policy draws inspiration from the Supreme Court's August 11 order where it mandated rounding up all street dogs in the Delhi-NCR for permanent sheltering within eight weeks. Protests erupted nationwide. Animal lovers rallied at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Peta decried it as "unscientific" displacement causing chaos, and celebrities joined online petitions.
Victims' families, however, hailed it amid a spike in dog-bite and rabies cases.
On August 22, a larger bench modified the order saying non-aggressive, non-rabid dogs must be sterilised, vaccinated, and returned to origins, with only dangerous ones sheltered long-term.
Now, the new rules in UP have been built on it, where the state is focusing on "repeat offenders" to balance the welfare of dogs and the safety of humans.
