The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Kerala government on a plea seeking permission to euthanise "suspected rabid" and "extremely dangerous" stray dogs in the Kannur district of the state.

A vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice M M Sundresh issued a notice to Kerala and directed it to file a reply by July 7.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by the district panchayat of Kannur raising the issue of stray dog attacks and mentioned the death of an 11-year-old differently abled boy in such an attack in the district this month.

The matter was mentioned before the bench for an urgent hearing.

"On the oral request, the matter has been taken on board on the date fixed, that is July 12. Counter-affidavit to be filed by July 7," the bench said.

The plea said, "It is pertinent to mention that 5,794 stray dogs attacks were reported in 2019, as many as 3,951 cases in 2020, 7,927 cases in 2021, 11,776 cases in 2022 and 6,276 cases up to June 19, 2023, in the Kannur district itself. It is further submitted that there are approximately 28,000 stray dogs in the limits of the applicant herein." It said the menace has continued despite every effort to control it.

The 11-year-old boy was found grievously injured in a bush near his home on June 11. Nihal, who suffered from autism, was missing from 5 pm on Sunday. He was later found in a grievously injured state and was taken to a hospital where he died.

The Supreme Court is seized of a batch of petitions on issues relating to orders passed by various civic bodies on the culling of stray dogs that have become a menace, especially in Kerala and Mumbai.

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