New Delhi, Aug 14: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the “whole problem” of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR was a result of the “inaction” of local authorities which did “nothing” in implementing the Animal Birth Control Rules on sterilisation and immunisation of canines.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, which was constituted to hear a suo motu case and some other pleas concerning stray dogs, reserved its verdict on the interim prayer for a stay on the directions issued by the apex court on August 11.
A two-judge bench on August 11, among other directions, ordered the Delhi-NCR authorities to permanently relocate strays from streets to dog shelters.
The bench had acted in the suo motu case initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.
“The whole problem is because of inaction of the local authorities. You frame rules in Parliament. The government acts, rules are framed but no implementation is carried out creating problem which is standing today,” the bench said on Thursday.
The top court added, “On the one hand, humans are suffering and on the other hand, the animal lovers want the animals also to be treated with dignity.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi government, referred to data and said in 2024, India reported around 37.15 lakh dog bites cases — nearly 10,000 per day.
Mehta also referred to a media report and said the World Health Organisation, using government and other authentic sources, reported 305 dog-bite related deaths last year.
The bench observed the Animal Welfare Board of India, local authorities and the government had done nothing.
“NGOs make a lot of noise but they don’t know what they should actually be doing. They should have been here earlier for implementation of those rules (Animal Birth Control Rules). Nothing is happening,” it added.
Everyone, the court said, who came before the court and filed intervention would have to own responsibility.
On August 11, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked authorities in Delhi-NCR to start relocating all stray dogs from streets to shelters and asked the authorities to initially start by creating a shelter to house 5,000 dogs.
It warned of strictest action against those who obstructed the exercise and directed immediate creation of dog shelters or pounds and report about it within eight weeks.
During Thursday’s hearing, Mehta said it was an issue to be resolved, not a matter to be contested.
“Children are dying,” he said, “please bear in mind a vocal minority view as against a silent suffering majority view”.
He added, “Nobody is an animal hater. Out of 100 species of snakes, only four are poisonous but we don’t keep them in our house. Nobody says dogs are required to be killed. They have to be separated from the humans habitations.”
Mehta said the apex court would have to find a solution to the “menace of stray dogs”.
Aside from senior advocate Kapil Sibal, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi also sought a stay on some of the directions passed by the apex court in its August 11 order.
Appearing for an NGO, Sibal asked why civic bodies hadn’t sterilised dogs and built adequate shelters for them.
“The community feeds them. Now you say because the community is feeding them, take them out and put them in pounds or shelters. There are no shelters in place,” he said.
Sibal claimed 700 odd dogs were picked up in the capital since the verdict and said, “Where they are, God alone knows.”
The senior lawyer called the situation “very serious”, requiring an in-depth hearing.
The bench, however, said, “Please tell us the part (of the order) which is offending. This matter has been listed today on an urgent mentioning before the chief justice and for constituting a special bench. So we are here.”
Referring to some of the directions, including the one asking the authorities in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram to start relocating stray dogs to designated shelters or pounds, Sibal sought the same to be stayed.
Singhvi, on the other hand, said, “What has happened is that with the best of intentions, all the directions here really put the cart before the horse.”
Referring to data given in Parliament earlier, he said there were zero rabies deaths in Delhi from 2022 to 2025.
“But to try and create a horror situation that people left, right and centre are dying from rabies, at least the government should look at its own figures by its own minister on the floor of the House a few weeks ago,” Singhvi added.
Referring to top court’s orders in similar matters, Singhvi said they did not ask to start picking up strays.
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, also in favour of the interim stay, said the August 11 order had paved way for high courts to start passing similar directions.
The bench asked another counsel appearing for the Delhi government about its stand regarding compliance of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and other enactments.
Widespread protests across the country were reported following the August 11 order.
On August 13, some petitioners in another stray dogs-related case mentioned their plea before CJI B R Gavai and referred to the August 11 verdict. The CJI said he “will look into it”. (PTI)
