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07 Nov 2025, 05:31 AM
Having regard to the "alarming rise of dog-bite incidents", the Supreme Court on Friday ordered that every educational institution, hospital, public sports complexes, bus stand and depots, railway stations, etc must be fenced properly to prevent the entry of stray dogs.
It will be the responsibility of the concerned local self-government institutions to pick up stray dogs from such institutions/areas, and shift them to designated dog shelters after vaccination and sterilisation in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules. The Court further ordered that stray dogs picked up from these areas must not be released to the same spot from which they were picked up. "Permitting the same would frustrate the very purpose of liberating such institutions from the presence of stray dogs," the Court observed.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria passed the order in the suo motu Stray Dogs matter. The Court directed that the local bodies must carry out periodic inspections to ensure that no stray dog habitat exists in such premises.
After the order was pronounced, Senior Advocates Anand Grover, Karuna Nundy etc, urged the bench to consider their submissions before signing the order. Nundy said that if dogs are removed, new dogs will occupy the same spot. The bench however refused to entertain the submissions.
Directions to remove stray cattle from roads and expressways
The Court further passed directions for the removal of stray cattle and other animals from roads and highways. The Court affirmed the directions issued by the Rajasthan High Court for removal of stray cattle and other animals from highways and expressways. "A joint coordinated drive shall be undertaken to immediately remove all such animals found on highways/roadways/expressways, including cattle," the Court observed. The animals must be shifted to goshalas or shelter homes. "Chief Secretaries of all states/UTs shall ensure strict compliance with this. Otherwise, officers will be held personally responsible. Status to be filed in 8 weeks, indicating mechanism developed to carry out directions," the Court warned.
Background
On July 28, a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan took suo motu cognizance of the stray dog issue based on a Times of India report titled "In a city hounded by strays, kids pay price".
On August 11, the bench expressed serious concerns about the menace of dog bites/rabies and passed directions for Delhi government authorities to relocate the dogs to shelters while barring their release. The bench ordered the authorities in the National Capital Territory of Delhi to immediately start picking up stray dogs from all localities and shift them to dog shelters. The directions also extended to Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad.
At the same time, the Court warned that if any individual or organization obstructed the authorities from picking up stray dogs, they would face legal consequences. The authorities can create a dedicated force to pick up the strays, the Court clarified.
In a dramatic turn of events, on August 13, the suo motu case was shifted to a 3-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, after some lawyers mentioned before CJI BR Gavai that those directions were in conflict with the previous orders passed by other benches.
On August 14, the 3-judge bench heard the matter and reserved order on whether to stay the August 11 directions. On August 22, it stayed the directions issued by Justice Pardiwala-led bench and opined: "direction given in the order dated 11th August, 2025, prohibiting the release of the treated and vaccinated dogs seems to be too harsh".
On the basis of Rule 11(9) of the ABC Rules, the bench clarified that stray dogs, which are picked up, must be released back to the same area from where they were picked up, after sterilization, deworming and immunization, except those dogs which are infected with rabies, suspected to be infected with rabies or are exhibiting aggressive behavior.
The bench also ordered a prohibition on public feeding of stray dogs and directed the creation of dedicated feeding spaces. Further, it reiterated the direction in the August 11 order that no individual or organization should obstruct the municipal authorities from picking up the dogs in terms of the ABC rules.
Moreover, the bench expanded the scope of the matter beyond Delhi-NCR and extended it pan-India. All States and UTs, Secretaries of Animal Husbandry department, Secretaries of local bodies and municipal corporations were impleaded to ensure the compliance with the ABC Rules. The bench also said that it will transfer to Supreme Court similar petitions pending in High Courts to formulate a national policy on the issue.
On October 27, the Court summoned Chief Secretaries of all States/Union Territories, except West Bengal and Telangana, for not filing affidavits regarding the steps taken by them to implement the ABC Rules. On October 31, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter requesting the Court to allow the Chief Secretaries to appear virtually and exempt their personal appearance. But the same was not allowed. Justice Nath's bench rather expressed displeasure, saying the Court was trying to resolve issues which should have been solved by the municipal corporations and state governments, yet the Chief Secretaries sat on the Court's order and did not show respect for it.
Case Title: IN RE : 'CITY HOUNDED BY STRAYS, KIDS PAY PRICE', SMW(C) No. 5/2025