Palakkad: Palakkad district police surgeon and Kerala Medico-Legal Society president, Dr. P B Gujral, has joined the ongoing case pertaining to stray dog menace in Kerala in the Supreme Court petitioning that sending the dogs back to the streets after sterilisation is a violation of their fundamental rights.

Dr P B Gujral has joined the petition citing the Section 7, Subsection 6 of the 2001 legislation regarding the control of population of the canine lot. The current legislation mandates sterilisation and release of the animals to their natural environs after being kept in observation for a few days.

Dr Gujral has been arguing that this is a violation of the rights of man as well as the animal. He has based his suggestion on his studies over a period of two years regarding the dog menace. He says that more people die of accidents due to stray dogs than due to rabies. While rabies casualty in Palakkad district was just one during the period of his study, around 20 people were injured in accidents involving strays.

Dr Gujral says that the decision to release the animals back into their habitat after sterilisation violates the section 3 and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, thus making the move by the Animal Welfare Board untenable.

He also argued that the move by the Animal Welfare Board violates the directions of the Supreme Court that directed that the five rights of the animals including those of freedom from hunger, thirst, homelessness, injury, fear, disease, pain and natural behaviour. He suggested in his submission that the best way out will be to safely house these animals in state-sponsored homes and not let them loose on the streets, as this will protect the rights of both the animals and people.