NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has, in its order, said that it decided to take up in its hands the stray dog matter and pronounced appropriate orders becasue of the systematic failure of the authorities over the past two decades to address an issue that strikes at the heart of public safety.The detailed order of August 11, uploaded in the Supreme Court website on Wednesday, said that the menace of dog bites had to be dealt with urgently.”The entire exercise that we propose to undertake, is not to be performed casually. The burning issue that we have embarked upon is not driven by a momentary impulse. On the contrary, it is only after the deepest of deliberations, and having reached the firm conclusion about the systematic failure of the concerned authorities over the past two decades to address an issue that strikes at the heart of public safety, that we have decided to take the matter in our hands,” Justice J B Pardiwala led bench of the apex court said, in its order on August 11.The apex court said, it examined the prevailing circumstances, heard the voices of those who have been directly affected and reflected upon a disturbing pattern of dog bites in this country. “Now is not the time for any resistance or hesitation born of complacency. It is a time for decisive and collective action and to confront the realities of our society. If we fail to act with urgency, we risk allowing yet another two decades to slip into the ledger of neglect, leaving future generations to inherit the same problems and the same dangers,” Justice Pardiwala said.The court underlined the necessity of conscious and sensitive of co-existence. The idea behind co-existence is not the existence of one’s life at the cost of the other. “We are attempting to flag the experience of those who use the streets daily. Streets should not prove to be vulnerable places. Among a bundle of concerns, we are at pains to take cognisance of the experiences of visually impaired persons,” the court added.Justice Pardiwala said that the visually impaired persons are at the highest risk of dog bites as their primary support, their canes, are seen as threats by the dogs. Young children are susceptible to dog bites due to which parents find it very difficult to allow their children to navigate on streets on their own. We have come across concerns of elderly persons being attacked by rambunctious dogs.
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