BREAKING | 'Dog Bite Menace Rising' : Supreme Court Refuses To Modify Directions To Remove Stray Dogs From Public Places
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to recall its earlier directions that stray dogs picked up from public places like hospitals, bus stands, schools, railway stations etc., must not be released to the same place after vaccination/sterilisation.
The Court dismissed a bunch of applications seeking modifications to the directions issued by the Court in November last year. In other words, the stray dogs picked up by authorities from the premises of public places must be confined to shelters.
The Court also dismissed applications challenging the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India. In the judgment pronounced today, the Court referred to reports about "deeply disturbing incidents" of dog attacks against children. Young children have been mauled, old people attacked, and even international travellers have faced dog attacks.
"The menace of dog bites has extended to public places of critical areas including airports and residential areas," the Court noted, after referring to various news reports.
The Court said that the problem had a "staggering dimension" and the "continued recurring of such incidents" reflected a deficiency in implementation of the directions.
The Court directed that erring officials, who fail to carry out the directions, will be liable to contempt and disciplinary action.
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria had heard the matter. In November last year, the bench had passed a slew of directions to the authorities to ensure the removal of stray dogs from public places such as schools, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations, and sports complexes. The Court directed that the dogs must be shifted to shelters, and must not be released back to the same place from where they were picked.
The bench had also issued directions banning the feeding of dogs in streets, except in designated feeding spots.
Later, several applications were filed by dog lovers and animal rights groups to recall these directions. After elaborately hearing these applications, the bench reserved judgment on January 29.
Background
In July last year, a two-judge bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan took suo motu cognisance of a news article titled 'In City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price' regarding the death of a child allegedly due to a dog bite. In August, the bench passed an extraordinary direction that all stray dogs in the National Capital Region must be picked up and confined to dog shelters. After the order generated a lot of outrage, the matter was shifted to a three judge bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria. The three-judge bench later modified the direction of the two-judge bench and held that dogs must be released after vaccination and sterilisation.
The three-judge bench also expanded the scope of the matter pan-India. In November, the three-judge bench issued further directions for the removal of dogs from the premises of public institutions.
Case Title: In Re : 'City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price', SMW(C) No. 5/2025 (and connected cases)