During the ongoing hearing on stray dogs, the Supreme Court on Friday cautioned against turning the proceedings into a contest between videos showing animal cruelty and those depicting dog attacks on people. The observation came from a three-judge Bench during submissions by Senior Advocate Raj Shekhar Rao, who appeared for an animal welfare organisation.
Rao urged the court to consider video clips annexed to his submissions, which he said showed alleged mishandling of stray dogs. He was appearing on behalf of the Karan Puri Foundation, a registered society involved in caring for street dogs in several parts of Delhi.
Responding to the submission, the Bench said it was aware of numerous videos available online that showed stray dogs attacking people, particularly children and the elderly. “There are ‘n’ number of videos on YouTube where dogs are attacking children and old people. We don’t want a competition here,” the Bench said.
What happened in previous hearings?
The court reiterated concerns it had raised earlier in the proceedings about the rising number of dog bite incidents across the country. During a hearing on December 7, the Bench had flagged the issue and criticised municipal authorities and local bodies for failing to effectively implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.
In Thursday’s hearing, the court had also made an observation that dogs can sense fear in people and may attack when they detect it, underscoring the behavioural aspects involved in stray dog incidents.
Case catches national attention
The matter has attracted nationwide attention since last year. In 2025, a Bench led by Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had directed Delhi’s municipal authorities to round up and shelter stray dogs. The order triggered almost immediate protests from animal rights groups. That order was subsequently modified by the present three-judge Bench, which ruled that sterilised dogs should be vaccinated and released rather than permanently sheltered.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court directed state governments and the National Highways Authority of India to ensure the removal of stray animals from highways. It also ordered government and private educational and health institutions to fence their premises within eight weeks to curb stray dog movement and prevent dog bite incidents.
The court said the matter would be taken up next on January 13.