The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report, regarding yet another incident of a stray dog attack in which a 65-year-old man was killed in a park inside the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus.

The CCTV footage of the horrific incident has gone viral on social media.

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Expressing serious concern over the reported incident, the Commission has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Uttar Pradesh, the Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, and the Commissioner, Aligarh Municipal Corporation calling for a detailed report in the matter, within six weeks. The state government is expected to inform whether any relief has been given to the deceased’s family.

The Commission has also called for the comments of the Secretary, Animal Welfare Board of India, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, on the present status of the implementation of the provisions of law and their strategy, if any, to deal with the issue of the right to life of humans and protection from the stray animals in the light of the recent increasing incidents of attack by stray animals on humans without any provocation.

It has observed that painful incidents such as the one reported by the media in the instant case indicate that there is a need to review the prevailing safeguards as this is not a problem of any one State or Union Territory, and the situation is grim and alarming. In the past also, the Commission had taken cognisance of such incidents and called for reports from the authorities.

It has further observed that animal rights are advocated and supported in the same way as human rights because it is quite imperative to safeguard and protect animals from oppression, confinement, and abusive treatment, which they may be prone to suffer at the hands of humans.

But on the other side, there are constant conflicts arising between humans and unruly animals, and these are certainly rising in number with each passing day, and that is why it is necessary for the authorities to understand the gravity and seriousness of the issue, and to take effective action in the matter, without any delay.