DSCC halts dog removal drive
The decision to relocate stray dogs will be taken after consulting the petitioner and related ministry, says DSCC Mayor
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin on Monday informed the High Court (HC) that Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) authorities have halted its stray dogs removing drive for the time being.
He said this during a hearing on a petition seeking halt of a DSCC drive to relocate stray dogs from the capital.
"The decision to relocate stray dogs will be taken after consulting the petitioner and related ministry," the attorney general informed the court quoting the DSCC mayor as saying.
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The HC then dropped the writ petition from work list, observing that if DSCC resumes its stray dog relocation drive, the petitioners can move to the court again if they wish.
An HC bench comprising of Justice Md Ashraful Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the order.
Barrister Shakib Mahbub appeared for the writ petition while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Debashish Bhattacharya appeared on behalf of DSCC.
Earlier on September 17, a writ petition was filed on September 17 seeking directions to stop the activities of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) for removing stray dogs from the capital. In the public interest, actress Jaya Ahsan, President of animal rights organization Avayaranno Rubaiya Ahmed, and Chairman of People for Animal Welfare Rakibul Haque Emil jointly filed the writ petition.
The writ petition sought a court rule on the validity of the DSCC's activities regarding the transfer and dumping of dogs. The writ petition was filed by the concerned persons including DSCC.
The petition said according to Section 7 of the Animal Welfare Act-2019, no animal, including a stray dog, can be removed, transferred or discarded. However, there are allegations that stray dogs have been removed from TSC and Dhanmondi and dumped in Matuail by the verbal order of DSCC. Therefore, the validity of DSCC's decision and activities regarding dog transfer has been challenged in the writ petition.
The writ also said, "There has never been an example of the success of the inhumane project that the DSCC has undertaken to reduce the number of dogs."
