Criminal Dogs Get Life Imprisonment

Humans commit crimes — small crimes, big crimes, even heinous crimes. Depending on the seriousness of the crime, punishments are imposed. Some crimes happen in the heat of the moment, unintentionally. Some are premeditated, committed out of vengeance or hatred. Since humans have intelligence and the ability to plan, they commit different types of crimes — assaults, financial frauds, murders, rapes, and so on.

For certain serious crimes, life imprisonment is imposed. In some rare cases, even the death penalty is awarded, though executions are extremely rare in India. But what about animals? Do they commit crimes intentionally? No. Leaving aside other animals, let’s talk about dogs, which share a close bond with humans. They are known as loyal pets. But there are also stray dogs.

Just as there are street children with no guardians, no one to care for them, there are street dogs. Some of these dogs attack humans, bite them — technically committing an “offense.” Not intentionally, but their bites often spread diseases to humans, especially rabies, which can even be fatal.

Recently, a Supreme Court judgment on stray dogs triggered anger among animal lovers. They protested against it. The court had earlier ordered the removal of stray dogs from Delhi’s NCR region and relocation to special shelters, warning officials of strict action if the dogs were found back in residential areas. The bench even observed that children and the elderly were dying due to rabies.

However, this ruling drew strong objections. Former Union Minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi opposed it, calling it impractical: “Delhi has 3 lakh stray dogs. For them, 3,000 shelters would be needed, costing 15,000 crore. Can the Delhi government afford that?” Rahul Gandhi criticized it as a step backward from humane, science-based policies. “Removing all street dogs at once is cruel,” he said. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, as well as film stars John Abraham, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Anand, and Adivi Sesh, also expressed concerns about the protection of stray dogs.

Eventually, the Supreme Court modified its order. It clarified that after catching stray dogs, they must be given proper vaccinations and deworming treatment, and then released back into the same area they were taken from — ensuring their habitats remain undisturbed.

But now, Uttar Pradesh has taken a new step forward — deciding to impose “life imprisonment” on stray dogs.

UP is among the states with the highest stray dog population. Being India’s largest state geographically, controlling dogs there is a huge challenge for the administration. To tackle this, the government introduced a new policy. If a dog bites a person for the first time, it will be kept in an animal birth control center for 10 days, vaccinated, and implanted with a microchip before being released.

If the same dog bites again, it will be permanently confined in the center. If conclusive evidence proves that the dog attacked, it will be imprisoned for life. Uttar Pradesh thus became the first state to impose life imprisonment on dogs. Authorities believe this will significantly reduce rabies cases and deaths caused by dog bites.

Investigations also revealed that stray dogs gather in large numbers near meat shops. Leftover waste from these shops attracts them, leading to attacks on humans. Officials believe relocating meat shops away from residential areas could help solve the problem.

But of course, unlike humans, dogs don’t know that committing a “crime” could land them in life imprisonment!