A memorandum was submitted to Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi by a group of animal activists whom she met on Tuesday. The memorandum was against the alleged pickup of stray dogs by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without any order ahead of the G20 Summit, which is scheduled on September 9 and 10. About 20 House of Stray Animals and Happy Tails Foundation activists reached the MCD office and requested Oberoi to “return” all the dogs to their respective areas. However, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has denied any wrongdoing.
Sanjay Mohapatra, the founder of House of Stray Animals said that they demand that all stray dogs are returned to their territories, they are not picked up for G20 and that sterilised dogs aren’t picked up. They also demanded that a community kitchen be set up for the dogs and ensure that they are vaccinated on time.
The activists claimed the mayor assured them that action would soon be taken on their demands.
As per the report, an order was issued on August 2 to pick up stray dogs from the streets of Delhi for sterilisation ahead of the G20 summit. The dogs were to be kept at animal birth control centres temporarily and would be later released back to the areas from where they were picked up. However, this order was later revoked.
"An order was issued a month ago by the MCD's veterinary department for such work, but it was later revoked. Right now, the MCD is not picking up any dogs from the city," a senior official from the civic body said.
People for Animals (PFA), another animal activist group, claimed that around 1,000 dogs were picked up by the MCD within three days. It claimed that while the G20 Summit is mainly centred around the New Delhi Zone, the MCD is clearing areas as far as east and west Delhi, according to The Times Of India.
However, the MCD has denied these allegations and said that they were spreading misinformation. The civic body said that a video shared by PFA showed a handler who had retired a year ago and that "if the dogs are being picked up, it is only on 'urgent need' basis" and all dogs are "always tracked and they will be released back" in the areas from where they were picked up, the civic body said, reported TOI.
PFA tweeted on Sunday, "Live and let live. We condemn MCD's unlawful conduct of mercilessly "removing" the community dogs from their original territories."
Ambika Shukla from People For Animals, an NGO, said there is "no need to remove friendly and sterilised dogs" from the streets.
"The animal welfare community reached out to the MCD to help pick up the dogs kindly and safely. Had local caretakers been involved in the process as we suggested, there would have been no cruelty, no chasing and no missing dogs," Shukla said, as per PTI.
"Rough, untrained Class IV staff cannot be expected to handle dogs humanely. Why not take those who can," she asked.
Meanwhile, a video of Manvi Rai, another animal activist was talking about the conditions of stray dogs due to the G20 Summit in Canada.