“No stay on stray dog removal order”: SC slams NGOs for delayed action

The Supreme Court today has reserved its order on pleas to stay the court's recent order directing relocation of dogs from all localities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Faridabad, Gurugram as well as areas on the outskirts, to designated shelters / pounds.

While raising concerns over the implementation of Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, and other legislations, Justice Vikram Nath led bench today asked the NGOs before it as to why they did not approach court for compliance earlier.

"These NGOs should also be responsible..they should have approached court for compliance earlier..all these intervenors are also responsible..", the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing before court addressing the recent outrage over the court's orders on strays told the bench that he saw videos of people eating beef chicken etc and then suddenly becoming animal lovers. "Milord children are dying..I will ask my colleague ASG Dave to show videos of children dying...STERILISATION does not stop rabies", he added.

"Shocking figures... 37 lakhs a year...10000 cases in a day...of dog bites.. more than 36% of global rabies fatalities in India..nobody is an animal hater..only 4-5 species of snakes are poisonous but we do not keep them at home..people are unable to send children out..young girls being mutilated..", the SG further submitted.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal told the bench that the ABC rules and parliament's legislation had to be complied with.

"What has the MCD done for so many years..if there are no shelters..community feeds them..now you want to cull them and put them in pounds..they are actually picking up dogs..this is a very serious situation and has to be argued at depth..please stay this..", Sibal submitted pressing for stay of the order.

Yesterday a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria was constituted to reconsider its earlier order on removal of all stray dogs from the Delhi NCR region.

This was done after the Chief Justice of India agreed to look into the issue of stray dogs amid the court's recent order on their removal facing serious backlash. A mentioning was made before CJI Gavai led bench wherein the counsel had stated, "This is about community dogs, a bench of Justice Maheshwari had ordered against relocation..".

Supreme Court on Monday, August 11 had ordered the removal of all stray dogs from the Delhi NCR region and their consequent relocation to dog shelters/compounds dedicated for them. Notably a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan has ordered that the strays shall not be released in the localities, even after sterilisation.

When the Court was informed about the possible intervention by animal rights activists by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the bench observed that it would initiate contempt against those persons if they try to interfere with the implementation of the directions passed by it. "All these animal activists and so-called lovers, will they be able to bring back all those children who have fallen prey to rabies? Let's take a practical view of the matter", the court said.

In July the top court had taken suo-moto cognizance of a very disturbing and alarming Newspaper cutting reported by the `Times of India’ in its Delhi edition titled “City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price”.

"Everyday, hundreds of dog bites are being reported in the city and the areas on the outskirts, leading to rabies and ultimately young infants, children and aged are falling prey to this dreadful disease. We are shocked to know that on an average 20,000 cases of dog bites are recorded in the country and out of which 2000 incidents happen in Delhi every day", the bench had noted.

As per the Newspaper report amidst the rising threat of stray dog in the national capital, a 6 year old girl by name Chavi Sharma fell prey to multiple dog bites leaving deep wounds on her left leg, arm and palm. Although the inhabitants of the locality complained for several times to the authorities concerned, yet none paid heed to the complaints of the people residing in the said locality. Also, a four year old boy Abhishek Rai was attacked by a pack of stray dogs on 23-7-2025 in Delhi’s Alipur area of Narela when the child was returning from his Anganwadi School. The dogs pounced at his face repeatedly injuring him until few bystanders rushed to his rescue.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the issue, court had issued notice to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Also, Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, was directed to act as Amicus and assist the Court on this burning issue.

In a sharp oral observation, the Supreme Court in July had also questioned a Noida resident over the practice of feeding stray dogs in public spaces, asking, “Why don’t you feed them at home?” while expressing concern over the growing threat posed by stray dog attacks.

The petitioner, reportedly a resident of Noida, had approached the Court seeking protection of his right to feed strays. However, the bench had observed that while compassion toward animals is laudable, it cannot come at the cost of endangering others, especially children and the elderly.

Case Title: IN RE: “CITY HOUNDED BY STRAYS, KIDS PAY PRICE”

Hearing Date: August 14, 2025

Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria