Supreme Court orders removal of stray dogs from institutional areas; directs shifting to shelters
Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue after a newspaper reported on hundreds of dog bites from both urban and rural areas.
Having regard to the alarming rise of dog bites in the institutional areas, the Supreme Court of India has today ordered the State governments and Union Territories to, within a period of 2 weeks identify such educational, health institutions and ensure that the premises are secured with fences to restrict the ingress of stray dogs.
"Stray dogs picked up from these areas shall not be released back to the same location from which they were picked up", the bench further ordered today.
A bench led by Justice Vikram Nath has further ordered that the management of said institutions shall designate a nodal officer for upkeep of the premises. Local municipal authorities/panchayat shall inspect such premises at least once in every 3 months, the order adds.
On November 3rd, the Supreme Court was informed that compliance affidavits were filed by all states and union territories as per its order on the stray dogs issue. Court had also recorded the presence of the Chief Secretaries as ordered by it recently. Notably, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was also present before Court, submitted that victims of dog bites should also be heard in the matter. He referred to various intervention applications that have been filed before the Supreme Court by the concerned individuals.
Recently, after noting that only three compliance affidavits had been filed before it i.e., by the State of West Bengal, State of Telangana and Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the supreme court had ordered the Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories other than the States of West Bengal and Telangana to remain present before it today, on 3.11.2025 at 10:30 A.M. along with their respective explanations as to why compliance affidavits have not been filed.
It had also expressed its concern over the country's image going down because of the constant incidents of dog attacks taking place across the country. "Continuous incidents are happening and the image of the country is being shown down. We are also reading news reports," a Justice Vikram Nath led bench noted while hearing a suo motu case on stray dog menace.
In its previous order, the Court had directed the impleadment of all States and Union Territories in the instant matter through the Secretaries concerned of the Animal Husbandry Department, Secretaries of the local bodies (Municipal Corporation, Municipal Councils, Municipalities, etc.) and the Administrators of the Union Territories so as to seek information from each authority regarding the steps being taken for compliance of the ABC Rules in their respective jurisdictions.
Court had partly stayed its earlier 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 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.
Case Title: In Re: "City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price"
Hearing Date: November 7, 2025
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria