Vijay Goel welcomes SC order; says it endorses his 'no dogs on streets' demand

New Delhi: Former Union minister Vijay Goel on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court order on the shifting of stray dogs to shelter homes, as an endorsement of his 'No dogs on streets policy' demand.

He claimed that on average, around 2000 dog bites were reported in Delhi alone, and this figure could be around 5000 if the National Capital Region (NCR) were included.

The former Delhi BJP president had been running a movement for a solution to the growing menace of stray dogs through a non-profit organisation, Lok Abhiyan, for the last two years.

"I am happy that the Supreme Court has now paid attention to our demands. It has directed the Delhi government to shift stray dogs to shelter homes. The court has endorsed our demand for 'no dogs on streets' policy", Goel told reporters.

He said the court has also directed to set up a helpline number for reporting dog bites, which was another demand of his movement.

Goel recently met the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for setting up the helpline, which is yet to be realised.

The Supreme Court has clearly said that there is a "terror" of stray dogs and most of their victims were women and children, he said.

"I received threats and abuses over my demands. After the court order, I hope such elements will not meddle in the implementation of the court order," he said.

The apex court terming the stray dog menace in the city as "extremely grim", directed the Delhi government and civic bodies to start picking up stray dogs from all localities at the earliest and keep them at dog shelters.

While passing a slew of directions to tackle the menace of dog bite incidents, the court warned that if any person or organisation comes in the way of picking up of stray dogs by the authorities, strict action will be taken against them.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that as of now, the dog shelters be created to accommodate around 5,000 stray dogs and sufficient personnel should be deployed there to sterilise and immunise the canines.

Delhi government's Development Minister Kapil Mishra said that the court order will be implemented in a time-bound manner. Mishra said the verdict will pave the way to free Delhi from the fear of rabies and stray animals.

In a post on X, Mishra said, "Under the leadership of CM Rekha Gupta, the Delhi government's animal department will work with all agencies to study this order and move forward in the direction of its proper implementation."

सुप्रीम कोर्ट का ये ऑर्डर दिल्ली को रेबीज और बेसहारा पशुओं के भय से मुक्ति एक रास्ता दिखाता है

CM @gupta_rekha जी के नेतृत्व में दिल्ली सरकार का पशु विभाग सभी एजेंसियों के साथ मिलकर इस आदेश का अध्ययन करके इसको समुचित लागू करने की दिशा में आगे बढ़ेगा

इस आदेश को समयबद्ध तरीके… https://t.co/wCkh1CrnoV

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) August 11, 2025

He also said that the government will keep in mind the proper welfare of the stray animals, while implementing the court order.