Supreme Court promises safety from stray dogs delivers conflict, cruelty

New Delhi: The Supreme Court's order to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR localities on Monday sparked mixed reactions. While RWAs have welcomed the order, animal rights activists including Maneka Gandhi argued that civic bodies lack the land and funds to carry out the "mammoth" task and warned it could worsen human-dog conflict.

Former Union minister Vijay Goel also hailed the top court's order on the shifting of stray dogs to shelter homes as an endorsement of his 'no dogs on streets policy' demand.

Terming the court's directive for the Delhi government and civic bodies as one of the most "regressive ideas" to date, activists said the order has caused panic among everyone -- from dog feeders to animal lovers in general.

"It's such a childish order from a Supreme Court judge, which has to be challenged and will be challenged for sure... There is absolutely no infrastructure to execute such an order. The one MCD and other corporations, if I include NCR, cannot sterilize or vaccinate dogs properly. Now, how can they plan a massive thing like this?" said an angry Nikhil Mahesh, founder of Umeed for Animals Foundation -- a rescue and rehabilitation centre in Gurugram.

"You need an immense land bank. You need massive funds. It is an impulsive reaction. They clearly didn't think it through. Mark my words, this will only increase panic between people and dogs," Mahesh said.

The animal activist has been flooded with frantic calls from dog feeders and worried animal lovers since the order was issued.

Animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi called the directive "impractical", "financially unviable" and "potentially harmful" to the region's ecological balance.

Gandhi said that the scale of the task makes it "unworkable".

“You have three lakh dogs in Delhi. To get them all off the roads, you’ll have to make 3,000 pounds, each with drainage, water, a shed, a kitchen, and a watchman. That will cost about Rs 15,000 crore. Does Delhi have Rs 15,000 crore for this?” she told PTI.

Several animal welfare organisations also criticised the Supreme Court's order, calling the move "unscientific and ineffective".

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India said the forced removal of Delhi's community dogs, estimated at around 10 lakh, would create "chaos and suffering" for both the animals and residents.

"Displacement and jailing of dogs has never worked," said Dr Mini Aravindan, senior director of veterinary affairs at PETA India.

She said the government should instead strengthen sterilisation and vaccination programmes, close illegal pet shops and breeders, and encourage adoption.

Alokparna Sengupta, managing director of Humane World for Animals India, called the move "misguided" and "counterproductive".

"Relocating dogs merely shifts the issue elsewhere. Long-term strategies like scaling up Animal Birth Control programmes are the scientifically proven solution," she said.

While issuing a series of directions to address the growing menace of dog bite incidents, the Supreme Court on Monday warned that strict action would be taken against any individual or organisation obstructing the authorities from picking up stray dogs.

The bench, comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, further clarified that while it would hear arguments from the Centre, petitions from dog lovers or other parties on the matter would not be entertained.

"We are issuing these directions keeping larger public interest in mind,” the bench said, adding that infants, young children should not at any cost fall prey to stray dog bites leading to rabies.

Atul Goyal, president of United Resident Joint Action (URJA), an apex body of RWAs in the national capital, said dog bite cases have been rising steadily, and this order will help provide relief from the problem.

"Along with stray dogs, cattle on the roads have also started attacking people and causing traffic jams. The authorities should take similar action for such animals as well," Goyal said.

Vandana Thapliyal, whose neighbour was recently bitten by a stray dog, called the top court’s order a step in the right direction.

“We have to make the streets safe. The stray dog menace has gone from bad to worse. I can’t let my children go out at night because of this. We need to put a stop to it, and hopefully, this step will help do that,” she added.

Former Union minister Goel claimed that on average, around 2,000 dog bites were reported in Delhi alone, and this figure could be around 5,000 if the National Capital Region (NCR) were included.

The former Delhi BJP president has 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.

In contrast, pet parent Natasha Srivastava described the blanket directive from the top court as "insufficiently informed", reflecting the growing divide between dog lovers and "stray nayers".

"You are planning to implement this over the next eight weeks -- does this seem like a realistic timeline for the 10 lakh dogs for whom the streets have been their lifelong home? These are India's dogs, India's native breeds," said Srivastava, worried about what would happen to the dogs that she feeds everyday near her office building.

According to the data of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and various surveys, Delhi alone has an estimated stray dog population of around 10 lakh.

Vasundhara Anand, co-founder of NGO Kvaab Welfare Foundation, called the top court’s "regressive" decision far from a real solution, and the one that will only fuel more conflicts between humans and dogs, as well as increase hostility toward dog feeders.

“There is no wherewithal to execute this. Forget everything — where will you even find these 10 lakh dogs? Finding them isn’t easy. We, the feeders, can’t catch hold of them — how will they round up all of them? “The truth is, they just want to raise an issue, not solve it. The solution is also funding mobile units and ensuring access to rabies vaccinations, which the administration have failed to do,” she added.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the stray dog menace has assumed gigantic proportion and assured that the government will soon come up with a policy and implement the Supreme Court's order in a planned manner.

"Delhi people are fed up of stray dogs. We have been discussing on the issue. The Supreme Court's directions are important... We will form a policy and provide relief to people," Gupta said in a press conference.

Data from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) shows that dog bite cases in Delhi rose from 6,691 in 2022 to 17,874 in 2023, and further to 25,210 in 2024.

Reiterating the need for a proper solution, including effective sterilization drives, Niti Jha from the NGO Niti Jeev Ashray Animal Welfare said the idea of confining free-roaming stray dogs to shelters would only make them sick.

"How long will the government confine stray dogs, and what’s the guarantee they’ll receive proper care in these shelters?" she asked.