'Meat-Eaters Calling Themselves Animal Lovers': Govt Backs SC Stray Dog Removal Order In Delhi-NCR; Cites '10,000 Bite Cases Per Day'

New Delhi: During Supreme Court's ongoing hearing on the removal of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR on Thursday, August 13, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, questioned the sincerity of some critics of the move. “I have seen people posting videos of eating meat and then claiming to be animal lovers,” he told the bench, calling it a contradiction.

Backing the August 11 order directing the relocation of all stray dogs into shelters, Mehta described the issue as one where “there is a very loud vocal minority and silent suffering majority.”

‘Thirty Seven Lakhs a Year, 10,000 Per Day’

Mehta cited statistics to underline the scale of the problem, telling the court that dog bites in India number “thirty seven lakhs a year, 10,000 per day,” with 305 rabies-related deaths annually, and higher figures projected by WHO modelling. “Nobody is an animal hater,” he said, but stressed that children could no longer play outside freely due to the menace.

“This is my stand, not the government’s stand. Your lordships will have to find a solution. Ultimately the solution is not in the Rules,” he told the three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria.

SC's Judgement On Blanket Removal of Dogs

The Supreme Court’s earlier two-judge bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had on August 11 ordered that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR be rounded up within eight weeks, housed in shelters, and not released back onto the streets. The bench also warned, “If any person or organisation comes in the way of picking up stray dogs, action will be taken.”

That bench said, “Infants and young children should not, under any circumstances, fall prey to stray dogs… We are issuing these directions keeping larger public interest in mind.”

On Wednesday, August 13, Chief Justice B R Gavai reassigned the matter to the current bench, which began fresh hearings on Thursday. The debate now continues over how to balance public safety with animal welfare, as both sides hold sharply divergent views on the best path forward.

Published on: Thursday, August 14, 2025, 11:13 AM IST