Days after the Supreme Court ordered the civic bodies of Delhi-NCT to remove and relocate stray dogs from the streets, Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai, noted that he would look into the matter. This comes after a huge uproar on the Apex court’s decision from animal rights activists, political leaders, celebrities and more.

The matter was mentioned before CJI Gavai by Advocate Nanita Sharma, who said that two benches of the apex court had passed different orders on the stray dogs issue on Monday. In her argument, she cited an earlier judgment by Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol opposed the “indiscriminate killing of canines.” The lawyer added, “It says compassion for all living beings has to be there.” Responding to this, the CJI said that another bench had passed the matter, but he “will look into this,” as per a Bar and Bench report.

Sharma also brought up a PIL rejected by the High Court in August 2023, filed by an NGO, Conference for Human Rights (India), which challenged their order. The body then challenged it in June 2024 in front of an HC bench headed by Justice Gavai.

Reactions to the stray dog order

Bollywood actor John Abraham also raised this matter with CJI Gavai on August 12. He urged him to review the matter and wrote, “These are not ‘strays’ but community dogs…respected and loved by many.” He pointed out the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Dog Rules 2023 that require sterilisation, vaccination, and return of community dogs, which is effective in cities like Jaipur and Lucknow.

ALSO READ

Hours after the Apex court announced its directives to civic bodies in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad, PETA responded. The body issued a statement saying that “jailing dogs” was “not scientific” and claimed that “displacement has never worked” as a solution to reduce dog bites and improve resident safety. It also lashed out at the Delhi Government‘s failure to implement the sterilisation effort for dogs properly, holding them responsible for the increasing dog population.

In the late hours of Tuesday, a pack of stray dogs in Uttar Pradesh‘s Khushinagar mauled a 30-year-old woman to death with a mental health illness. As per the local police, she often roamed the village and was reported missing on Monday. This incident comes just a day after the Supreme Court issued stringent directives to relocate strays from Delhi NCR within 8 weeks. As per the order, no dog once captured was to be released again, and was to be kept under constant CCTV surveillance.

Furthermore, Delhi’s Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) are set to hold a meeting at the Talkatora Stadium to discuss the course of action following the SC order. Former Union Minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel revealed this on Wednesday during his address in the Bengali Market. This move marks their support to ensure “safer” public spaces and ensure smooth implementation of the directives issued by the government.

SC order on stray dogs: Key directives for Delhi NCR

  1. Apart from Delhi’s Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Tamil Nadu’s Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru has agreed to implement the order with relaxed effect too.
  2. Responsible bodies are to build dog shelters that can accommodate 5000 strays, away from residential areas, within 8 weeks.
  3. Once captured, sterlised, and immunised, the dogs are not be released.
ALSO READ
  1. Those who obstruct the animal vans in following their due procedure, would be booked for contempt of court.
  2. A helpline number for those in distress would be set up by the authorities promptly, specifically aimed at dog bite victims.
  3. Provide details about places where Rabies vaccines are available for public service announcements.

A bench comprising JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said in its order that the concerned authorities start picking up stray dogs from vulnerable localities at the earliest. They laid great emphasis on the urgency of this action and said, “This should be the first and foremost exercise to make all localities free of stray dogs.” The bench added, “There should not be any compromise in undertaking the exercise.”

The urgency in the Apex Court’s order was triggered by a news report which highlighted that the elderly and children were the worst affected by the rabid dogs. Terming it “very disturbing and alarming”, the bench commenced with the proceedings suo moto.