Deposit sums with Registry and be heard: SC to Dog Lovers, NGOs
The Supreme Court has directed dog lovers and NGOs to deposit respective sums for further appearance is the case pertaining to stray dogs.
"Each individual dog lover and each NGO that has approached this Court shall deposit a sum of Rs.25,000/- and Rs.2,00,000/-, respectively, with the Registry of this Court within a period of 7 days, failing which they shall not be allowed to appear in the matter any further", a Justice Vikram Nath led bench has ordered today.
Furthermore, the amounts so deposited are to be utilised in the creation of the infrastructure and facilities for the stray dogs under the aegis of the respective municipal bodies.
Notably, Supreme Court today has partly stayed its 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. "Prohibition on release of strays is stayed. They shall be dewormed, vaccinated and sent back to the respective areas.", a three-judge bench has ordered today.
Court has further noted that it cannot be ignorant of the fact that the mandate to keep all the stray dogs, picked up from Delhi and the adjoining NCR cities, in the municipal shelters/pounds would require logistics of gargantuan proportions including manpower, shelters/pounds, veterinarians, cages and specially modified vehicles for transportation of the captured stray dogs.
"The aggressive sterilisation would definitely put a curb on the rapid growth of the stray dog population, ultimately leading to its reduction. However, this is possible only in an idealistic situation, which seems unlikely in the present scenario", the order further records. Supreme Court has also considered that a blanket direction to pick up all the strays and place them in dog shelters/pounds without evaluating the existing infrastructure may lead to a catch-22 situation because such directions may be impossible to comply with.
"We make it clear that there is not even the slightest doubt in our minds that the intent behind the order is salutary inasmuch as it works towards protecting the citizens at large from the attacks by the aggressive and rabid stray dogs. However, there are certain vital factors that call for a balancing exercise so that the order dated 11th August, 2025, can be taken to its logical conclusion while keeping its ambit within the contour of the legal framework, i.e., the ABC Rules, 2023.", the court in its order has clarified.
The bench also comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria has clarified that dogs with rabies and aggressive behaviour shall not be released. Court has further put a bar on public feeding of dogs and directed that dedicated feeding spaces be created for this purpose.
On August 14, while raising concerns over the implementation of Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, and other legislations, Justice Vikram Nath led bench had 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 had said.
Recently, 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.
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 had 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.
Case Title: IN RE: “CITY HOUNDED BY STRAYS, KIDS PAY PRICE”
Order Date: August 22, 2025
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria