Amidst rising incidents of dog bites in Kerala, the High Court on Friday, September 16, directed the state government to ensure efficient and free medical assistance to victims of dog bites in government hospitals. The order comes two days after the High Court, on Wednesday, said that the government is obliged to protect citizens from dog attacks by identifying and containing ferocious dogs.
While stating that providing proper medical assistance to the victims was a Constitutional mandate to safeguard the wellbeing of citizens, a Division Bench comprising of Justice AK Jayashankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath PJ, observed that hospitals should also ensure adequate medical and vaccine supply. “Once the state machinery has been established and set up to deal with the issue, we will lift the obligation for free treatment,” the bench said. It further added that the court will conduct regular checks to ensure whether the state machinery is being set up in an efficient manner.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government on Thursday, September 16, had said that it has already commenced vaccination of stray canines in some districts where the instances of attacks were high. State Animal Husbandry Ministry K Chinchurani had said that the government is also working to set up more Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres in areas where dog attacks are high and holding interviews for recruiting doctors and other staff, including dog catchers, to be deployed at these places.
On Friday, responding to a question in court, advocate Vikram Chandravanshi of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) said that NGOs associated with the AWBI will be offering their assistance to the state government at the ground level.
Earlier this week, the Kerala government announced that it will conduct a mass vaccination drive for street dogs starting on September 20, to ensure that dog bites do not turn fatal.