Kochi: The high court, noting the difficulties local bodies face in finding land to set up shelters for stray dogs, suggested establishing a common shelter to serve two or three local bodies.A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and A K Preetha made the suggestion while considering a suo motu petition initiated pursuant to a Supreme Court order directing all high courts in the country to register suo motu cases on the stray dog issue. The court further said that where local bodies have been unable to set up shelters due to opposition from local residents, they must take steps to quell such protests and comply with Supreme Court’s directions. Failure to do so could expose them to contempt proceedings before the apex court. The bench added that the local self-govt institutions (LSGIs) cannot cite public opposition as a reason for non-compliance with Supreme Court’s directions.During the hearing, counsel for Animal Rescue Centre, Kochi, submitted that in many instances, stray dogs picked up from the premises of public institutions for the animal birth control (ABC) procedure had not been released from shelters thereafter. She pointed out that this practice was contrary to Supreme Court’s directions, which only prohibit the release of dogs back into the premises from which they were picked up. There is no restriction on releasing them at suitable locations outside the premises of public institutions.The court also observed that Supreme Court’s guidelines clearly stipulate that such stray dogs must be released and cannot be kept indefinitely in shelters. Counsel for Kochi Corporation undertook to furnish details of the dogs picked up from within the corporation’s territorial limits for the ABC procedure, including the number of dogs picked up and the locations where they were released after the procedure. The court also directed the corporation to provide details of the ABC procedure it follows, in view of concerns raised from various quarters about the manner in which it is carried out and doubts over the competence of those performing the procedure.