Stray Dogs Will Not Be Aggressive If Given Food And Little Care, Says Bombay HC

The petitioners and the SEL which manages the residential complex have been at loggerheads over the issue.

In the previous hearing, the court sought assistance from an NGO ‘The Welfare of Stray Dogs’ (WSD) for feeding spots.

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New Delhi: The Bombay High Court, on Wednesday, observed that if stray dogs are provided with food and care they will not be aggressive and attack humans.

The observation came while the high court was trying to find an amicable solution for the dispute between the management of Seawoods Estate Limited (SEL) in Navi Mumbai and its residents who feed stray dogs, Live Law reported.

The court added that it had resolved the issue of stray dogs in the Bombay High Court complex by feeding them.

"Nobody can tell a dog or a tiger what its territorial limits are, they don't know your boundaries of Seawoods Estate. We had this problem (strays) in the Bombay High Court. We solved it by feeding them. Now they just sleep,” Justice Gautam Patel was quoted by Live Law. 

However, the court said that finding dedicated feeding spots is the need of the hour, and once identified, the financial and physical obligations to feed, sterilize, vaccinate, and neuter would fall on the volunteers or the feeders.

A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale has asked for a list volunteers from SEL, who feed stray dogs inside the complex, and ready to take their care and bear all the costs.

Meanwhile, the high court has adjourned the case to March 20, 2023.

Six residents of a residential complex at Seawoods in Navi Mumbai had filed a petition seeking a direction to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to identify a feeding area for stray dogs in public places.

According to Live Law, the residents have also challenged fines imposed on them by their housing society for feeding strays. The petitioners and the SEL, which manages the residential complex have been fighting over the issue.

In the previous hearing, the court sought assistance from an NGO ‘The Welfare of Stray Dogs’ (WSD).

Three feeding spots were identified by SEL on the periphery of its boundaries on the local authorities’ land. While one plot was approved by the court which was near a tree belt, two others were rejected. Out of the two rejected spots, one was too close to a service road and the other one was too close to a school, hence unacceptable. The court urged that parties find other feeding spots.