A Landmark Order Amid Rising Dog Attacks

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented directive: remove all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi and its surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) and house them in shelters.

- RUCHIRA TALAPATRA

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented directive: remove all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi and its surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) and house them in shelters.

- Ruchira Talapatra

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented directive: remove all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi and its surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) and house them in shelters. This sweeping order came in response to growing public alarm over dog bite incidents and rabies cases. A bench led by Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, acting on its own motion ("suo motu"), described the situation as "extremely grim" and framed the decision as being in the "larger public interest" to protect human lives. The judges cited attacks on infants and young children as especially intolerable tragedies that demanded urgent action. Under the Court's mandate, civic authorities in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and other NCR cities must "round up all stray dogs from all localities... whether sterilised or not sterilised" and transfer them to dedicated shelters within eight weeks. The dogs are not to be returned to the streets, and anyone obstructing the capture efforts - such as fervent animal activists - could face contempt of court charges.