Don't Let the Dogs Out

Delhi has over a lakh community dogs that have coexisted with the city's human population for decades. Now the country's top court wants them gone

- Avantika Mehta IS A SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR BASED IN NEW DELHI

On June 30, a news report detailed a case of six-year-old Chhavi Sharma from Rohini, Delhi, who developed rabies after being bitten by a stray dog. She died in late July. The incident provoked anger in her neighbourhood and renewed criticism of how the city's municipal bodies respond to dog-bite complaints.

On August 11, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the case. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed municipal authorities in Delhi-NCR to remove community dogs from residential areas "at the earliest" and relocate them to shelters. The order sparked immediate protests from animal rights groups and community feeders. A wider debate followed: whether the judges were addressing a pressing public health concern or whether they had issued a directive that Delhi was unprepared to carry out.

When lawyers mentioned the matter the next day before the Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai, he said, “I will look into it.” The CJI then constituted a three-judge bench to hear the case. On August 14, a larger bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria heard petitioners plead for the city’s community dogs, pointing out that the issue was not only about their relocation. “The question is, has the municipal corporation built shelter homes? Now dogs are being picked up. This needs to be argued in depth. Let the suo motu order be stayed,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal said. The bench reserved its interim order.

The August 11 directive to capture, sterilise, vaccinate and house community dogs in shelters still stands. It was framed, the judges said, “for public safety,” keeping in mind that visually impaired persons, the elderly and children were “vulnerable” to dog bites and subsequent diseases like rabies.