Supreme Court's intervention in stray dog menace

The menace of stray dogs in the national capital, New Delhi, has become so severe that the Supreme Court itself had to intervene. 40,000 people were bitten by stray dogs in Delhi in six months. The apex court intervened in the matter after reports of more than 60 cases of rabies infection, many of which resulted in deaths, came to light. Supreme Court Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan ruled that all stray dogs in the national capital region should be shifted to shelters within two months because the number of dogs is more than the city can handle. The court has made several important interventions through this order, including ensuring that dogs are not released on the streets under any circumstances after being shifted to shelters. In the course of the hearing, Justice Pardiwala said: "This is for the public interest. So, no sentiments of any nature should be involved. Action should be taken at the earliest... Pick up dogs from all localities and shift them to shelters. For the time being, forget the rules.... We need to make streets absolutely free of stray dogs." These words point to both the inadequacy of our legal system regarding stray dog control and the complexity of problem-solving. Therefore, there are some lessons for states, including Kerala, in this regard.

Also read: CJI promises review of Supreme Court’s stray dog relocation order amid backlash

Stray dog attacks have become one of the biggest challenges facing the country. It is no exaggeration to say that dogs have taken over our streets. From parks, hospitals, beaches, to backyards, stray dogs have become a major health hazard and often a life-threatening one. According to Parliament, more than 3.7 million people were affected by the disease in 2024. This is an increase of five lakhs from the previous year. 54 deaths due to rabies infection from dog bites have also been reported. More than 3,000 people have also died in other accidents related to dog attacks. It is estimated that New Delhi is experiencing a higher rate of violence than other cities. In 2024, more than one lakh people were admitted to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital alone following stray dog violence. The situation in states, including Kerala, is no different. In 2024, 3.17 lakh people were bitten by dogs in Kerala; The number of rabies deaths was 26. ​It is also worth noting that within seven months of this year, the number of rabies deaths has reached 21. Every year, the number of stray dog attacks and deaths is increasing. The number of such attacks has more than doubled since 10 years ago, when over a lakh people were bitten and five people died from dog bites. Deaths have also increased fivefold. The situation is similar in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The situation is frightening. According to the 2019 dog ensus, there are over 50 million stray dogs in India; 30 lakh dogs are in various shelters. One would certainly realise that there are more dogs on our streets than warranted. So, the solution is to control the number of stray dogs. Although the recommendations for the elimination of dogs, mass sterilisation, and relocation to shelters have been raised at various levels, the experience is that in practice, various obstacles are encountered and matters lead to unnecessary disputes.

Also read: Supreme Court ordersremoval of all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR, sparks public debate

The Supreme Court ruling is also a reminder that certain things in these disputes should be deliberately forgotten. The most important thing is the weakness of the existing laws. This judgment is based on the fact that the rules in the Animal Birth Control Rules (ABC Rules) are not sufficient to control the streets. The Supreme Court bench has specifically called as absurd the provision in the ABC Act that a stray dog should be caught, castrated, cared for for six days, returned, and released at the same place. The court also disagreed with the suggestion of neutering as a remedy. Neutering is only useful for controlling the number of dogs; It does not reduce aggression. The court has also been harshly critical of animal welfare organisations. The court questioned the logic of making animal welfare the only slogan without considering human life, and also issued a strong warning to such outfits.

In this sense, even if an active intervention is made in the stray dog issue, the question remains as to how practical the court's order is. First, it is not easy to shift lakhs of stray dogs to shelters in eight weeks; However, there is no clarity either on how the dogs brought to the shelters will be handled. That is why leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have pointed out that there are some problems with the court order. In states like Kerala, such shelters have been proposed as a direct solution, but there are practical obstacles there too. The local populations do not allow ABC centres to be set up in this densely populated state, let alone shelters that house hundreds of dogs. The people here cannot be blamed entirely. There are concerns among the public that such centres could pose some level of security problems. Mass killing of stray dogs is not the solution. In short, more comprehensive and effective solutions are still needed to control stray dogs.

Also read: Munnar panchayat booked over alleged mass culling of stray dogs