Telangana High Court Extends Order Restraining Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation From Capturing Sterilised Street Dogs

The Telangana High Court on Monday (December 1) has extended its interim order directing the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) not to capture street dogs that have already been sterilised, unless a specific complaint is received.

On Friday (November 28) Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy had in its order directed, “List on 01.12.2025. Till then, the respondent authorities are directed not to capture sterilised dogs. However, this order shall not come in the way of the respondent authorities in capturing the street dogs as and when specific instances of dog attacks are reported".

When the matter was taken up today, the direction was extended till Tuesday (December 2). 

The development came in a writ petition filed by Association for Animal Shelter and Rescue Aid (AASRA) seeking to suspend all ongoing capture and removal operations of community dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, sports stadiums, railway stations and bus depots, following the order by the Supreme Court, without complying with the pre-requisite directions.

The interim relief application also sought immediate suspension of such capture activities from these public areas until compliance with Directions 25(A) - (E) of the Supreme Court's order dated 07-11-2025 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5 of 2025 is achieved. It also sought for release and return of the dogs until suitable rehabilitation facilities where animals receive all proper care as directed by Supreme Court are ready, pending disposal of the main petition. 

On Friday senior advocate X. G. Krishna Murthy appearing for petitioner, submitted that the respondent authorities are adopting cruel methods to capture dogs and in violation of the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court. Moreover, the respondent authorities are capturing sterilized dogs and sending them to unknown centres and there is no sufficient rehabilitation centres in Hyderabad.

Standing counsel for GHMC G. Madhusudhan Reddy, had requested for time. However, he submitted that directions of the Supreme Court are being scrupulously followed. He said that there were frequent complaints lodged in several locations in Hyderabad regarding attacks of street dogs and injuries caused to the children and senior citizens.

On November 26 the court had permitted AASRA to inspect the Animal Care Centres in 2 zones, i.e., the L.B Nagar Zone and the Serlingampally Zone, to verify whether the authorities at the ACC had complied with the directions 25 A-E rendered by the Supreme Court In Re: “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price”

On Friday, the Counsel on behalf of the petitioner mentioned the matter seeking modification of the names of the ACC centres mentioned in the order.

The Senior Counsel stated that during the course of the day, 3 GHMC vans had come to the High Court premises and were picking up sterilised dogs as opposed to the order of the Supreme Court.

For context, the Supreme Court in its November 7 order had ordered that every educational institution, hospital, public sports complexes, bus stand and depots, railway stations, etc must be fenced properly to prevent the entry of stray dogs.

The counsel argued that instead of following the sequence given by the Apex Court, the authorities had reversed the sequence. It was argued that the Apex Court order mandates identifying all above mentioned public spaces and fencing them, before removal of public dogs, otherwise, the entire exercise would be rendered repetitive, cruel and wasteful of public funds.

Case title: Association for Animal Shelter and Rescue Aid AASRA v/s The State of Telangana and Others

WRIT PETITION NO: 35995 OF 2025

Counsel for petitioner: P. Sree Ramya, represented by Senior Counsel K.G. Krishna Murthy, assisted by Advocates K. Kiran, Nithya and Huma

Counsel for Respondents: G. Madhusudhan Reddy, SC GHMC

Click Here To Read/Download Order