Twinkle Khanna Slams Hypocrisy As Protests Erupt Over Supreme Court’s Order On Stray Dogs

In the recent, author and former actress Twinkle Khanna refers to what she calls the inherent hypocrisy inherent in human nature after a Supreme Court order against stray dogs was met with outcry and protests. The first one, which was later amended, aimed at taking the stray dogs off the streets and sending them to shelters as an increase of rabies cases had been witnessed. The personal connection to the story that Khanna had relating to the topic of the stray dogs her building adopted to a certain extent affected her ability to think calmly about the news. 

She identified a contrast between bottom-up activism that takes place on the ground and a more superficial advocacy. Khanna celebrates the people who raced the weather and police to make a stand against their cause but dismisses what she calls armchair protestors as the people who write on the Internet about the strays and tuck into non-vegetarian food.  She pointed out contradictorily, morality is tastier when it is accompanied by a McDonalds hamburger implying that the world is filled with a selective empathy where people only care about one cause and neglect another.

Twinkle Khanna on SC Stray Dog Order Outcry

The first Supreme Court order on August 11 was a stern reaction to the increasing litany of stray dog related cases happening in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The court mandated local governments to remove all strays in the locality to be detained in shelters.

This prompted up-roar by animal lovers and other activists contending that such an action was cruelty to animals and would result in the death of the dogs. This event occurred due to the pressure that the judiciary received by social media, most notably by the backlash of society.

A Middle Path for Animal Welfare

The Supreme Court revised its earlier order, after the protests and discussions of the people. The new rule, a more even-handed one, orders the release of the stray dogs to their original habitats after they are sterilized, immunized. The only exceptions are those dogs, which are either rabid or ones that exhibit aggressive behavior.

The court also stipulated establishment of special feeding areas and forbade street feeding. This amendment indicates a shift to a solution that can address both the public safety and animal welfare as such leading to the concern to implement the laws in letter and spirit of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules. Even Khanna had appealed to a middle ground stating that the best options are vaccination and sterilization to help both humans and animals.

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