Chennai: Madras high court has directed the central and state animal welfare boards to respond to a public interest writ petition filed by an animal welfare activist seeking a stay on the tender issued for implementing animal birth control (ABC) for stray dogs.The issue pertains to an instruction issued by the Tamil Nadu govt directing the authorities to take swift action to implement measures for controlling the stray dog population. Following the instruction, a tender worth 5.2 crore was floated in Chennai for implanting microchips in stray and pet dogs to help identify them.According to the petitioner, S Muralidharan, a petition challenging the ABC regulations is already pending in court. Therefore, the govt’s move to issue a tender while that case is still pending is against the law. “The ABC Rules, 2023, are already prima facie shown to be ultra vires to the parent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and contrary to binding judgments, including the constitutional bench judgment of the Supreme Court,” he said.He further alleged that the rule mandating the return of the dogs, particularly aggressive dogs, to the same public space would violate the rights of the citizens provided under Article 21 of the Constitution. “It would be a financial drain on the exchequer with a failed model that has not yielded results over the past 24 years,” he added.Admitting the plea, a vacation bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy and Justice T V Tamilselvi directed the central and state animal welfare boards, as well as the state animal husbandry department, to submit their responses by June 20.