The Repercussions of Empathy

The Supreme Court converting a news article about the death of a young child in Delhi following a stray dog bite into a suo motu writ was in some ways an inevitability given the number of such incidents reported across the country. The government, which ought to amend laws that have given extraordinary protection to stray dogs that even human beings don’t have, ignoring the issue is another reason for the court’s decision. A tipping point now seems to be cases where children are dying of rabies even after being vaccinated. This was what happened in Delhi where the six-year-old girl was given the vaccine and yet succumbed.

The court termed the issue “alarming and disturbing” and referred it to the chief justice to take it forward. The explosion of stray dogs post-Covid can be seen across India and while empathy for animals is a virtue, anything in excess has repercussions. The idea that stray dogs should be allowed to take over the streets and make human beings, who don’t share the sentiment of animal lovers, anxious and threatened is unreasonable. No animal, even man’s best friend, can claim such benevolence and most developed countries take measures against overpopulation. In India, as usual, everything is taken to extremes.

Such anomalies cannot last because ultimately human beings will always choose themselves. Right now, animal lovers are more organised but when the reverse happens and politicians realise that votes are in question, reprisals will be swift and then it will move to the other extreme end. The status quo argument that neutering dogs is the solution is baseless because we have had decades to do it and failed spectacularly. It can also be flipped —let all dogs be neutered first and then we will protect them to the utmost degree. What might unfold, if the dog protection laws are not modified, is people taking matters into their own hands even at the price of breaking them. When it comes to the safety of their children, parents will do whatever is necessary and then they will rely on the incompetence of the system to get away with it.

animal welfare lawsdog population controlempathy repercussionspublic safetyrabies casesstray dogsSupreme Court