The Supreme Court on Wednesday uploaded its order in a suo moto case relating to the stray dog menace in the Delhi-NCR region. The court had delivered a detailed order on 11th August directing the removal of all stray dogs from streets and public spaces in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad, their relocation to shelters, and a complete prohibition on releasing them back. The ruling has caused outrage among animal lovers and activists, who called the apex court's decision knee-jerk and impractical to implement.
The matter, titled In Re: "City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price", was heard by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan.
In its detailed judgement, the apex court described the situation as extremely grim and noted that there were over 37 lakh reported dog bites in 2024, including 25,201 in Delhi alone.
The Supreme Court directed that at no stage should these dogs be subjected to any mistreatment, cruelty or deplorable standards of care.
The court further directed all concerned authorities to ensure that there is no overcrowding at the dog shelters and pounds, with all measures to be taken promptly to avoid such situations. The stray dogs brought to these shelters and pounds shall not be starved, and it shall be the duty of the concerned officials and authorities to ensure that they are adequately and regularly fed.
Read the full text of the Supreme Court order here:
Shortly after the order was uploaded to the Supreme Court website, it has been reported that the case has now been transferred to a three-judge bench.
According to Live Law, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria will hear the matter tomorrow.
