The Supreme Court will on Friday pronounce its interim order on the contentious issue of relocating stray dogs in Delhi-NCR into shelters. In the prior hearing, a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria observed that the problem stemmed from “inaction” by local authorities.
Delhi Government Flags Rising Rabies Cases
In the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Delhi government, stressed that the matter required resolution rather than confrontation.
“There is a vocal minority. I have seen videos, interviews. People eating meat, chicken, etc., and now posing as animal lovers and objecting to this,” Mehta argued, highlighting that children were dying due to rabies, as quoted by news agency PTI.
He further contended that sterilisation programmes did not eliminate rabies and that immunisation alone could not prevent injuries from dog attacks. Citing official figures, Mehta told the court that over 37 lakh dog bite incidents were reported in 2024, while a World Health Organisation report noted 305 rabies deaths in a year.
“Ultimately, the solution is not in the rules (Animal Birth Control Rules). Your lordships will have to intervene,” he said.
Concerns Raised Over Sheltering and Sterilisation
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing an NGO seeking a stay on parts of the apex court’s August 11 directive, cautioned that the authorities’ current approach could lead to culling of dogs.
“They (authorities) are going and picking up dogs. Where will they go? They will be culled and that is what is going to happen,” Sibal said, questioning why municipal corporations had failed to construct shelters or carry out sterilisation drives despite receiving funds.
Another senior advocate, Abhishek Singhvi, challenged the government’s claim of rabies-related deaths, pointing out that “there were zero rabies deaths in Delhi from 2022 to 2025,” based on data presented in Parliament.
“But to try and create a horror situation that people left, right and centre are dying from rabies, at least the government should look at its own figures by its own minister on the floor of the House a few weeks ago,” Singhvi said.
Earlier Order Sought Immediate Shelters
The larger bench hearing followed the Supreme Court’s August 11 order by a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, which had directed Delhi-NCR authorities to set up dog shelters or pounds and submit a status report within eight weeks. The order also barred the release of stray dogs from shelters.
During that hearing, the SC bench had asked the authorities to begin relocating dogs from the streets to shelters, starting with infrastructure to house at least 5,000 animals.
At Thursday’s proceedings, some advocates argued that while much was being said about the welfare of animals, “what about human beings?” They stressed the complexity of the issue and maintained that NGOs had not been able to place all relevant materials before the earlier order was passed.
The Supreme Court had reserved its order on interim prayers seeking a stay on certain aspects of the August 11 directive.
