Big Supreme Court win for dog lovers, strays to be sterilised, released

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 22, 2025: The Supreme Court has modified its earlier order on stray dogs and said the dogs could be released from the shelters after sterilisation. Public feeding of strays, however, has not been allowed.

A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria, reviewing an earlier order by the court, also expanded the scope of the issue and ordered that all similar matters be transferred to the top court for a final national policy.

The court had earlier ordered the rounding up of all stray dogs, aiming to make the streets of Delhi-NCR free of stray dogs. Amid a pushback from animal activists and celebrities, it decided to revisit the issue and had reserved its verdict earlier this week.

Modifying the order today, the court said that public feeding of stray dogs cannot be allowed under any condition. The court also directed the civic bodies to create feeding areas in municipal wards and warned of legal action in cases of public feeding.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had on August 11 ordered all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to be moved to shelters within eight weeks, taking note of the rising incidents of dog bites and rabies cases, and even death. At least 37 lakh dog bites and 54 suspected rabies deaths were reported in 2024, according to the government.

The court had directed authorities to capture stray dogs from the streets and warned against any interference in the rounding-up exercise. The authorities were also asked to make shelters for at least 5,000 dogs.

The matter proved hugely divisive, leading to massive criticism from people from all walks of life. Animal activists and celebrities argued that the order would be expensive and ineffective in curbing the stray population.

The absence of necessary infrastructure for mass location of strays was among the major arguments, besides that such arrangements would stretch the budget of civic bodies in Delhi and neighbouring cities like Gurugram and Noida.

When apprised of the criticism, Chief Justice BR Gavai had directed a relook at the August 11 order by another bench.