Kerala Child Rights Body Moves SC Seeking Directions To Curb Stray Dog Attack Cases

According to WHO (World Health Organisation), India accounts for 36 per cent of global deaths due to rabies, it said.

The Kerala child right body moved Supreme Court seeking immediate directions to keep a check on canine attacks, especially on children. The child rights body sought attempts like providing confinement facilities for stray dogs or culling to effectively handle it. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) also requested the SC to issue directions for being made a party in 2019 case on stray dog menace. 

The child rights body, as per PTI said, "The stray dogs can pose a risk to public safety by attacking people or other animals. A confined facility or culling of stray dogs can reduce the risk of such incidents to an extent.”

It said, dog-mediated rabies causes an estimated 59,000 human deaths annually across the globe. According to WHO (World Health Organisation), India accounts for 36 per cent of global deaths due to rabies, it said.

“India also accounts for 65% of the deaths due to rabies in the South-East Asia region. The National Rabies Control Program reported 6,644 clinically suspected cases and deaths of humans caused by rabies between 2012 and 2022. According to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, almost 96% of rabies cases in India are caused by stray dogs - and so India leads the world in rabies deaths,” the child rights body said.

It said, in recent times an 11-year-old autistic child Nihal was attacked by a pack of stray dogs at Kannur on June 11, 2023. In another incident last year in Kottayam district, a 12-year-old minor died in a stray dog attack.

Meanwhile, a number of petitions concerning decisions made by various local organisations to kill stray dogs that have become dangerous, particularly in Kerala and Mumbai, have been brought before the Supreme Court.