IIT-Bombay Community Rallies to Protect Campus Dogs
More than 300 students, teachers, and residents of the prestigious IIT-Bombay campus in Powai have launched a significant online signature campaign advocating for peaceful coexistence with the institution's stray dogs. This grassroots movement directly challenges the recent Supreme Court directive that would remove all stray dogs from educational campuses and public spaces.
The Supreme Court Directive and Campus Response
The signature drive organized by animal lovers and regular feeders on the Powai campus comes as a direct response to the November 7 Supreme Court order mandating that all stray dogs from institutions must be relocated to animal shelters. The court additionally ordered that campuses should be securely fenced to prevent new dogs from entering the premises.
In their appeal to authorities, the IIT-Bombay signatories present a practical argument against removing their vaccinated and sterilized dogs. They emphasize that eliminating the current canine population would simply create a vacuum that new, unsterilized dogs would quickly fill, potentially worsening the situation rather than improving it.
The community also questions the feasibility of completely fencing the entire campus, particularly given its natural boundaries. "It is impractical to fully fence the entire campus, especially if it is adjacent to a natural river or a lake," the petitioners noted, highlighting the unique geographical challenges of their location.
A Growing Movement Across Educational Institutions
This isn't an isolated movement confined to IIT-Bombay. Similar signature campaigns are gaining momentum across other IIT campuses and various colleges throughout India, indicating a broader shift in how educational communities view their relationship with campus animals.
"Such signature drives by concerned animal lovers are being conducted in other IITs too in India, besides various other colleges," confirmed a Powai campus resident. "Many residents are regularly feeding the local dogs to show their compassion, so it is best to live harmoniously with all animals."
The movement represents a fundamental philosophical difference in approach to stray dog management, favoring integration and care over removal and exclusion.
Parallel Struggles in Panvel
Meanwhile, approximately 40 kilometers away in Panvel, animal activists face different but related challenges. In sector 4, animal lovers recently organized a special night-time feeding drive after several regular feeders received threats and physical assaults from opponents of stray dog feeding.
Activist Rabiya Bustani of the Be A Responsible Citizen (BRC) Foundation explained the situation to TOI: "Many stray dogs in sector 4 were very hungry because some animal haters have illegally stopped people from giving food. Hence, we did a feeding drive."
The situation in Panvel has escalated to the point where Bustani reports that "a local neta is reportedly threatening the feeders by using muscle power." The foundation plans to formally complain to both the Panvel municipality and local police authorities to protect the rights of animal feeders and ensure the wellbeing of the dogs.
These parallel movements in Powai and Panvel highlight the complex and often contentious relationship between urban communities and stray animals across Maharashtra, with educational institutions emerging as important battlegrounds for defining future coexistence policies.
