SC directs Delhi authorities to pick up stray dogs, keep them in shelters

New Delhi: Terming the stray dog menace in the city as "extremely grim", the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Delhi government and civic bodies to start picking up strays 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 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.

It said the stray dogs be kept at dog shelters and not be released on streets, colonies and public places.

"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.

It also directed the authorities to create a helpline within a week so that all dog bite cases are reported immediately.

The top court had on July 28 taken suo motu cognisance of a media report of dog bite incident leading to rabies in Delhi.