NGO: Dogs, monkeys tainting India PM's cleanliness drive

An Indian charity petitioned the High Court Wednesday for packing off stray dogs and monkeys to a remote corner of the country, saying they were undermining premier Narendra Modi's cleanliness campaign.

The Society for Public Cause, a New Delhi-based non-profit group, said the animals must either be exported or sent to Nagaland, a far-flung state in India's northeast where the meat of dog and monkey is considered a delicacy.

Stray dogs can be commonly seen on Delhi's streets, and while some are friendly and docile, others are more menacing, barking ferociously at strangers. There is also a high incidence of dog bites.

"Street dogs are defiling the Clean India programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the NGO said in its petition in the Delhi High Court through lawyer L. S. Chaudhary, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

Chaudhary further said street dogs and monkeys must be "eliminated" and persons who suffer at their hands must be adequately compensated.

Modi launched a massive clean-up campaign last October, saying eradicating filth should be considered a patriotic duty by every Indian.

There are no recent figures on the number of dogs in Delhi but a 2009 city survey put them at more than 260,000.

Monkeys, who are revered in Hindu-majority India, often trash gardens, offices, residential rooftops and even attack people viciously for food.

The court will take up the matter on August 17, PTI said.