All stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to be relocated to shelters, says SC

Bench warns any obstruction in picking up the canines would amount to contempt of court

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the rounding up and relocation of all stray dogs from Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram to designated dog shelters. A two-judge Bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan also said the authorities should ensure that the canines do not return to the streets.

 

Terming the situation “extremely grim”, the Bench also warned that any individual or organisation that tried to obstruct the picking up of these stray dogs would be held in contempt of court.

 

“If any individual or any organisation comes in the way of such force picking up stray dogs and rounding them up, and if it is reported to us, we shall proceed to take strict action against any such resistance which may be offered,” the Bench said.

 

The apex court order came during a suo motu hearing on the incidents of stray dog bites, which have led to an increase in rabies cases in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The case will be heard next after six weeks.

 

During the hearing on Monday, the SC also questioned the logic of returning the dogs to their locality after they were sterilised and said it did not make sense for the canine to return to the area from which it was picked up.

 

“We have noticed one very absurd and unreasonable rule: If you pick up a stray dog from one part, you sterilise the dog and put him at the same place, that’s absolutely absurd and doesn’t make any sense at all. Why should that stray dog come back to the locality, and for what?” Justice Pardiwala remarked. 

 

The civic bodies in Delhi and the NCR region should have sufficient staff and other required personnel to immunise and look after the stray dogs rounded up, the court said, adding that these shelters should also have closed-circuit cameras so that no dog is released or later taken out.

 

Over the next eight weeks, authorities should start by creating shelters for roughly 5,000 dogs, the apex court said, adding that the directions were being passed in the “larger public interest”.

 

“Infants and young children should not, at any cost, fall prey to such dog bites leading to rabies. The action should inspire confidence in the minds of people, young and old, that they can move around freely on roads without any fear of being bitten by a stray dog,” the SC said.

 

Dog bite cases across the country have seen a nearly 70 per cent jump between 2022 and 2024. In 2024, a total of 3.7 million dog bites, with 54 suspected cases of human death due to rabies, were reported, according to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (ISDP) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s data.

 

Last month, the Bombay High Court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure that people did not feed pigeons in the 51 kabutar khanas (pigeon-feeding spots) across the city.