savitri sonarikar

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Advs Siddharth Luthra, Vinay Navare and Karuna Nundy @karunanundy:
statutory bodies exist. Let them function.

Stop bypassing Parliament.

IIT Delhi data shows CSVR can work without removing a single dog.

#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench @karunanundy

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Adv Shyam Diwan, who appeared for PETA: "The legal norm for detention of stray dogs is 4 days."
Mandating lifetime shelter for street dogs is not a solution. Under the law, that is cruelty

#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Adv Kapil Sibal, who appeared pro bono, opened: mass removal creates a "territorial
vacuum."
New unvaccinated dogs move in immediately.
You reset the rabies shield to zero and solved nothing.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench @KapilSibal

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Adv Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1: sterilisation has shown real results in Jaipur and Goa. Failures elsewhere are due to weak accountability and patchy implementation. He proposed a public platform for citizens to report unsterilised dogs.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench @pbhushan1

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Adv Abhishek Manu Singhvi @DrAMSinghvi, who appeared pro bono, laid out the constitutional framework:
"This is not just about dogs and humans. It is about constitutional principles. Judicial intervention operates in gaps. Not where the legislature has intentionally not gone."
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs

@LiveLawIndia @barandbench @DrAMSinghvi

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

"The obligation of the court to enforce rights is in the ABSENCE of legislation." Parliament already made the ABC Rules. There was no constitutional space to override them. @DrAMSinghvi
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench @DrAMSinghvi

[Tanya @SnooopSnoopy]

Sr Advocate Percival Billimoria also cautioned the court against over-reliance on media reports as evidence, warning they create an "echo chamber."
The case began with a newspaper headline. Policy cannot be built on headlines alone.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench @PercyBillimoria

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Bhushan warned: the court's remarks about holding feeders liable were getting feeders physically attacked on the ground. "Sometimes the remarks of the Court lead to unfortunate consequences." The bench said those remarks were made very seriously.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1: sterilisation has shown real results in Jaipur and Goa. Failures elsewhere are due to weak accountability and patchy implementation. He proposed a public platform for citizens to report unsterilised dogs.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Raju Ramachandran: both the Bar and the Bench have a duty to be circumspect in televised proceedings. The entire country was watching these hearings live. Words have weight.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Billimoria: Justice Mehta himself asked how population figures could be claimed without any census, calling such estimates "totally unrealistic." The entire policy debate has been built on numbers nobody actually verified.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Percival Billimoria @PercyBillimoria: the core problem is the failure to implement ABC and the absence of any proper census. He proposed a committee chaired by the Attorney General to conduct the census and review implementation from scratch.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Vikas Singh: street dogs control rodents and maintain ecological balance. This is not a human vs animal conflict. It is an ecosystem issue. Removing dogs has cascading consequences.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Pinky Anand: removing dogs without replacement leads to more aggressive animals occupying those spaces. The shortage of ABC centres is the root cause. She warned against any approach that amounts to culling.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Pinky Anand: "We eradicated TB through public health measures, not by eradicating patients." Fix the system. Do not punish the vulnerable.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Madhavi Divan also: deploy portable ABC units. Sterilise on site, recover on site, release on site. We are short of physical ABC centres. This solves it without mass sheltering.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Madhavi Divan: build a state-level digital dashboard to track sterilisation drives, vaccination coverage and municipal compliance in real time. Transparency and accountability, not ad hoc orders.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Farasat proposed a practical framework: zone public spaces, designate feeding areas, time-bound ABC implementation, fix accountability of municipal officers, and coordinate state and local bodies.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Farasat: states cannot jettison the ABC Rules. They are bound by law to implement them. The resource crunch is real but the solution is to fix it - not abandon the statutory framework.
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench

[savitri sonarikar @savvy2sonar]

Sr Adv Shadan Farasat: this is not humans versus dogs. It is a failure of governance. "The State has failed on its statutory duty to balance public safety and animal welfare."
#SaveIndianDogs #MarchToSC #LawyersForDogs @LiveLawIndia @barandbench