What are laws for dogs in society

Pet as well as stray dogs are legally protected from cruelty under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, section 38 and IPC sections 428 & 429 and Article 51A (g). So if you happen to face stray dogs , keep in mind that they are legally protected from your anger but you are not legally protected from their anger, therefore, it all depends on you how to protect yourself from them. Following suggestions may be helpful for you.
- Do not run away. Stay calm or move away slowly, let them barking.
- Generally, a dog does not attack on you from front. So beware if it comes from behind to bite you.
- Feed them they will become loyal to you. This is the best way to protect yourself from them. They are faithful to the person who feeds them.
- If any dog comes closer while barking at you, shout at him back.
- Dog will never come close if you have any weapon like club, cudgel, stick or even brick/stone in your hand to protect yourself from it.
- Never use your leg to hit a dog.
- Last but not the least: It's my own experience. I have defended myself twice when it attacked on me. Keep your hands towards it as if you are taking it into lap and Be quick to close its jaws, the dog will scared of you. Once the mouth of a dog is closed by you, it will not attack on you again, rather, it will run away from you and will bark at a distance or will move away while barking.

There are laws in India to protect stray dogs from human beings.
1. Feeding stray dogs is legal and we can't take any action on the people who are feeding stray dogs.
2. Feeding poisonous food to these start dogs is treated as a criminal offence under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, which extends to the whole of India.
3. We should not cause any injury to these stray dogs. As per Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code and the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, this will be treated as illegal.
But there are no rules or acts to follow if a dog bites a human being. He/She has to go to the Doctor and get the treatment.
Sometimes we face problems with these stray dogs. There are some NGOs which will be taking care of these animals. We can inform them and they may come and take away these dogs and they will take care of them.
Many places we face this problem. We have to defend ourselves.
1. We should not run away if a dog is coming running behind. Stop and turn so that you will be facing the dog. Once we stop the dog will also become slow and stop.
2. If any small stick is available take it into your hand.
3. If the dog barks and comes behind you should on it and try to show the stick in the hand. Are keep some small stones in the hand. Then the dogs will run away.
4. Never run by seeing a dog. Try to walk slowly without giving much importance to the dog there.
These actions may help you in getting protected from stray dogs.

The Animal Welfare Board of India(AWBI) was set up in 1962, in accordance with Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 (No.59 of 1960) has released a circular on February 2015 along with Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India regarding pet and street dogs which states that:
- Societies cannot create bye-laws about banning pets or even by obtaining a consensus by the majority of the residents cannot legally introduce any sort of ban on the keeping of pet dogs.
- Residents' Welfare Association's (RWA's) cannot ask to disown your pet or for the removal or dislocation of pets or street dogs.
- The society cannot levy fines on the owners of pet dogs or disallow them to use the elevator or parks with their pets.
- Barking is a natural form of expression for a dog, and must and has to be tolerated in society. It cannot be treated as nuisance or disturbance and file a complain.

Some of the things that a person/society/ apartments/residents' association can do/ask the Pet owners are:
1. Provide a designated spot for feeding the strays far from any residential block or children's play area.
2. Keep the feeding area clean after feeding or clean the leftover after feeding.
3. Ask the pet owners for regular vaccinations and sterilisation of their pet to reduce aggression and overpopulation of the strays.
4. Keep their pet neat and clean.
5. Always fasten or tie your pet when in a public place, park or in the compound.
6. Always keep their pets companions on leashes for others safety.
7. Allocate time for animals so that they can be round done foe stroll or rounds.

The only thing that we can do is to be confident and stand still instead of running which makes the pets or animal run behind us and harm us. Try to be calm and friendly with pets.

As per the directive of AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, a housing society cannot offend the stray dogs and remove them from the surrounding streets. The law is very clear on that aspect and time to time court has given verdicts in the favour of these animals only. This is creating a big problem for those who get dog bites and cannot complain about it. So, their concerns are also genuine as these street dogs are not reliable and can attack anyone at anytime. The animal lovers who feed them believe that they do not bite if you treat them calmly and do not run away from them. So, this is the conflict that is present in many housing societies where there are conspicuous groups of the people loving the animals as well as some hating them.

The only solution which can be thought is that the society should take up this matter with the local municipal board representative and request him to make arrangements for the sterilisation and vaccination of the street dogs to reduce their population and once that is controlled the threat would be minimised. There are already some campaigns for removing pigs and other animals from the streets in some states and even the stray cows etc are not allowed in the streets and if found rooming are taken to the municipal animal keeping enclosures and released only after fining the owner.

So, there are some measures which can be tried by the housing societies and the like minded citizens in the area should also take interest in it and it will definitely require some coordination with the municipal authorities. We have to find a solution to the problem which lasts long. Just by removing the stray animals from one area to other will not help. This also requires awareness in the residents about it and in many places municipal boards are doing these things regularly and only thing is we have to hammer them time to time as being a public department they are generally sluggish in their performance but we the citizens are paying taxes and we have all rights to ask for these facilities and services. Fighting among ourselves and creating a scene in the society will not be helpful.

Being an animal lover I understand this problem in much clearer terms as I was asked not to give biscuits to the stray dogs near my society. When I contacted the municipal board office they told us that you can feed them but do not take them in the society premises. The law is very clear in the matter that no cruelty with them is allowed and the residents should take care as not to confront the dogs unnecessarily. Small children shouldn't be taken near them. We have one local welfare group which last time arranged sterilisation with the help of the municipal teams and that gave some relief in our area also. These animals are there on the streets and people do not adopt them and instead go for top breeds for which they pay a huge price also. I think if people in society adopt these stray dogs then this problem can be sorted out to some extent.