Delhi HC not happy with dog sterilisation centres

New Delhi:  Annoyed at the poor state of dog sterilisation centres run by municipal corporations in Delhi, the high court on Tuesday asked the director of veterinary services of the three MCDs to remain present before it during the next hearing on Wednesday.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued the direction after a panel of lawyers it had appointed to inspect the centres told the court about the pathetic conditions and a lack of facilities in most of them.

Delhi government’s additional standing counsel Naushad Ahmed Khan, who headed the inspection team, told the bench that the centres has no facility to dispose animal carcasses and surgical waste.

Another matter of concern was lack of cleanliness at the centres, he told the court.

At one of the five centres inspected by the team, Khan said, they found surgeries, including sterilisation, were done in the kitchen, which was being used as an operation theatre.

Animal right activist Gauri Maulekhi told the bench that on the orders of the SC the Animal Welfare Board of India has drafted a module for management of dog population and eradication of rabies.