Dogs and their Laws : Supreme Court on Stray Dogs

The Supreme court has declared that the dog shelters will be created to accommodate around 8,000 stray dogs and sufficient staff should be deployed there to sterilise and immunise the canines.

Wednesday, August 11, 2025, the Supreme Court has directed the Delhi Government and the local bodies to immediately remove all the stray dogs from the streets. The order also instructed the authorities in Delhi NCR to lock them in shelters within six to eight weeks, forever keeping them away from public places.

The matter came before Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Wednesday from a lawyer who brought to the court’s memory an earlier order dated May 9, 2024, which had underlined compassion towards stray dogs. On being orally mentioned, the CJI agreed to list the matter urgently.

Petitioners Statements

During a hearing in the Supreme Court, counsellor Kapil Sibal, who appread on behalf of NGO Project Kindness, opposed the court’s previous ruling on August 11 that had instructed stray dogs be taken to shelters permanently.

Sibal had stated that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules that mandate stray dogs be sterilized, vaccinated, and taken back to where they were originally found are well-established and need to be implemented.

“This is the first time I’ve heard the Solicitor General say that laws exist but don’t need to be followed,” Sibal remarked, expressing concern that the August order bypasses legal safeguards in place for animal welfare.

He also underscored that local bodies have not done their job as per the ABC Rules. “Have the local bodies constructed good shelters? Have the dogs been spayed or neutered? Funds have been diverted, and no shelters,” he said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for other petitioners, also joined Sibal and contended that the court order was premature.

“You’re putting the cart before the horse,” Singhvi said. “If the shelters existed, then it would not be an issue to move the strays.”

He also referred to official statistics from Parliament indicating no deaths from rabies in Delhi between 2022 and 2024 to dispel fears about stray dogs.

“Dog bites are a serious concern, no doubt,” Singhvi continued. “But we cannot allow that to become a pretext for devising a panic-stricken, inhumane solution.”

Following consideration of both parties, the Supreme Court postponed its order on the petition to suspend the August 11 judgment.