The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has suggested to Smart Cities that hostels for stray cows and dogs should be included in the Smart City plans.
The move has come after AWBI received complaints regarding the neglect of animals and lack of shelter facilties for animals in these cities.
The matter has been taken up AWBI Chairman S P Gupta to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
“The Ministry of Urban Development has to play a vital role by making modal bye-laws to entail the provision of animal shelters in their smart city and other metro city development plan to make this programme successful on the line of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960,” said Gupta.
“The idea is that animal shelters are constructed in all smart cities preferably on Gochar (grazing) land or vacant/uncultivable land of the States/UTs to avoid animals are being thrown out of the cities and taken for slaughter,” he said.
AWBI also wants proper fodder and feeding systems for stray animals and also removal of encroachments on grazing land.
