Supreme Court Bench Notes ‘Serious’ Situation Over Dog Bite Cases
New Delhi, 13th August 2025: The Supreme Court on Wednesday assured that it would look into a petition concerning stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, following recent directions for their relocation to shelters.
The assurance came after a lawyer mentioned the plea filed by the organisation Conference for Human Rights (India) before a bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran. The petitioner claimed that the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, which mandate regular sterilisation and vaccination programmes to control the stray dog population, are not being implemented.
The Chief Justice noted that another bench of the apex court had already passed an order on the matter earlier this week.
On Monday, a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan described incidents of dog bites in Delhi-NCR as an “extremely serious” situation. The bench directed that all stray dogs in the region be permanently shifted to shelter houses as soon as possible. It also ordered Delhi authorities to construct shelters for around 5,000 dogs within six to eight weeks and emphasised that the number of such facilities should be increased over time.
The court further warned that contempt proceedings would be initiated against any person or organisation obstructing the process of picking up stray dogs.
The lawyer appearing on Wednesday also referred to a May 2024 order by a bench headed by Justice JK Maheshwari, which had transferred all petitions related to stray dogs to the respective High Courts. In response, CJI Gavai reiterated that the matter would be reviewed.
