New Delhi, India, 15 August 2025
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on an interim petition challenging its earlier directive to remove stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets and confine them in shelters within six to eight weeks.
A Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, with Justices Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria, declined to stay the August 11 order issued by another Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan to local authorities. “Local authorities are not doing what they should be doing,” Justice Nath remarked, stressing civic bodies must take responsibility.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, underscored public safety concerns, noting that most fatalities from dog bites and rabies involve children. “Children are dying because of dog bites,” he said, citing videos showing hypocrisy among some animal welfare advocates.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing an NGO that cares for dogs, argued for a partial stay, saying some directives violated the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which prohibit relocating stray dogs from their original areas. Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi added that with insufficient shelter facilities, the order “puts the horse before the cart” and runs contrary to prior Supreme Court rulings mandating adherence to ABC Rules.
The suo motu case began before Justice Pardiwala, who, citing rising attacks on children, had called for immediate removal of strays from vulnerable areas, pointing to over 25,000 dog-bite cases reported in 2024. But the sweeping removal directive has faced backlash from animal rights organisations and public figures, who warn that Delhi-NCR’s estimated eight lakh stray dogs cannot be humanely or logistically accommodated in existing facilities.
The court’s reserved order is now awaited, with the case balancing public health imperatives against animal welfare laws and compassion principles recognised in earlier judgments.
