Rahul Gandhi welcomes SC's revised directions on stray dogs, calls it 'progressive step'

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's revised directions on stray dogs and said it marks a progressive step towards balancing animal welfare and public safety.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also said the approach is both compassionate and rooted in scientific reasoning.

The top court on Friday modified its August 11 direction prohibiting the release of stray dogs from dog shelters in Delhi-NCR, and said the picked up canines should be sterilised, vaccinated and released back in the same area.

A three-judge special bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath, however, said municipal authorities shall continue to comply with the direction asking them to start picking up and rounding stray dogs from all localities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurugram.

The apex court said the August 11 direction prohibiting the release of picked up stray dogs shall be kept in abeyance for the time being.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, "I welcome the Supreme Court’s revised directions on stray dogs, as it marks a progressive step toward balancing animal welfare and public safety." "The approach is both compassionate and rooted in scientific reasoning," he said.

I welcome the Supreme Court’s revised directions on stray dogs, as it marks a progressive step toward balancing animal welfare and public safety. The approach is both compassionate and rooted in scientific reasoning.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 22, 2025

The Supreme Court bench, also comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, said, "The dogs that are picked up shall be sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated and released back in the same area from which they were picked up."

The bench clarified that this relocation shall not apply to dogs infected with rabies or suspected to be infected with rabies, and those that display aggressive behaviour. It said such dogs shall be sterilised and immunised, but under no circumstances should they be released back into the streets.

The bench said as far as possible, dogs infected or suspected to be infected with rabies and showing aggressive behaviour should be kept in separate pounds or shelters after sterilisation and immunisation.

The bench directed the municipal authorities to forthwith commence an exercise for creating dedicated feeding spaces for stray dogs in each municipal ward.