⚖️ Supreme Court Judgments on STRAY DOGS
Latest Supreme Court directions on handling stray dogs by municipal authorities
Delhi Law Academy Jaipur presents below for aspirants of RJS, DJS, PCS(J) and other Judicial Services throughout India the latest judgments of the Supreme Court on the manner and matter of handling of stray dogs by the Municipal authorities.
📜 Supreme Court Judgment dated 11 August 2025 by a Two-Judge Bench
“12. For the present, the aforesaid directions shall be complied with and implemented scrupulously. We, at the cost of repetition, again make it abundantly clear to the above concerned authorities in clear words that it shall at the earliest: –
- (i) Start picking up and rounding the stray dogs from all localities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Faridabad, Gurugram as well as areas on the outskirts, and relocate these dogs into designated shelters/pounds.
- (ii) The appropriate authorities of NCT of Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurugram & Faridabad are directed to immediately create dog shelters/pounds and report to this Court the creation of such infrastructure all over the National Capital Region (NCR). A report in this regard shall be filed before this Court within a period of eight-weeks.
- (iii) In no circumstances, should these stray dogs after their relocation be once again released back onto the streets. In this regard proper records should be maintained by the concerned authorities regularly.
- (iv) The stray dogs shall be captured, sterilized, dewormed and immunized as required by Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and as noted above, shall not be released back. The dog shelters/pounds should have sufficient personnel to sterilize, deworm and immunize stray dogs and also for looking after the stray dogs who would be detained.
- (v) We further make it clear that both the exercise of rounding up of stray dogs as well as the creation of necessary infrastructure in the form of shelters/pounds for the relocation, sterilization, deworming and immunization, shall be undertaken simultaneously. We do not want to hear about even a semblance of lethargy from the concerned authorities on the pre-text of awaiting the creation of shelters/pounds, otherwise, we will proceed to take strict action against these authorities. All authorities are directed to immediately begin the picking up stray dogs and in the same breadth creation of appropriate and adequate shelter homes and pounds across the National Capital Region.
13. Any hindrance or obstruction that may be caused by any individual or organization in the smooth and effective implementation of our aforesaid directions will be viewed as contempt of this Court and we shall proceed to take appropriate action in accordance with law.”
📜 Supreme Court Judgment dated 22 August 2025 by a Three-Judge Bench
33. We, therefore, feel that a holistic approach requires mollification of the directions issued vide order dated 11th August, 2025. Accordingly, the directions issued by the two-Judge bench of this Court are supplemented, modified, and clarified in the terms indicated below: –
- a. Municipal authorities shall continue to comply with the directions contained in paras 12(i) and 12(ii) of the subject order.
- b. The directions contained in paras 12(iii) and 12(iv), to the extent that they prohibit the release of the picked up strays, shall be kept in abeyance for the time being. The dogs that are picked up shall be sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated, and released back to the same area from which they were picked up.
It is, however, clarified that this relocation shall not apply to the dogs infected with rabies or suspected to be infected with rabies, and those that display aggressive behaviour. Such dogs shall be sterilised and immunised, but under no circumstances should they be released back onto the streets. Furthermore, as far as possible, such stray dogs shall be kept in a separate pound/shelter after sterilisation and immunisation. - c. The directions contained in para 12(v) shall remain subject to the directions given by us in paras (a) and (b).
- d. Municipal authorities shall forthwith commence an exercise for creating dedicated feeding spaces for the stray dogs in each municipal ward. …. Under no condition shall the feeding of stray dogs on the streets be permitted. The persons found feeding the dogs on the streets in contravention of the above directions shall be liable to be proceeded against under the relevant legal framework.
- f. The direction given in para 13 of the order dated 11th August 2025, is reiterated with a slight modification that no individual or organisation shall cause any hindrance or obstruction in the effective implementation of the directions given above. In case any public servant acting in compliance with the aforesaid directions is obstructed, then the violator/s shall be liable to face prosecution for obstructing the public servant acting in discharge of official duty.
34. Since the application of the ABC Rules is uniform all over the country and the same issues which have been taken up in the Suo Moto Writ Petition have either cropped up or are likely to exist in every State, we propose to expand the scope of this matter beyond the confines of New Delhi and the NCR region.
35. For this purpose, we hereby direct the impleadment of all States and Union Territories in this matter through the Secretaries concerned …. so as to seek information from each authority regarding the steps being taken for compliance of the ABC Rules in their respective jurisdictions.
36. We are also informed that numerous writ petitions/suo moto petitions are pending in various High Courts, more or less dealing with common issues. Hence, the Registry shall seek information about such pending writ petitions from the Registrar Generals of all the High Courts, and thereafter, these writ petitions shall stand transferred to this Court for analogous consideration along with the main matter.
Note: the matter has been directed to be listed after eight weeks for further directions and for receiving the compliance report.