New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Friday, ordered the removal of stray dogs from all educational institutions, hospital premises, public sports complexes, bus depots and railway stations across the country to reduce the number of dog bite cases.
Such locations will have to fenced adequately to prevent the entry of strays. The dogs captured from such premises will have to be sent to shelters after vaccination and sterilization. They cannot be sent back. The responsibility will be of the local self-government institutions.
“Permitting the same would frustrate the very purpose of liberating such institutions from the presence of stray dogs,” the bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice N V Anjaria said on why stray dogs should not be allowed to return to these locations.
The Court also directed that local bodies must carry out periodic inspections to ensure that no stray dog habitat exists within such premises.
The Court also passed directions for the removal of stray cattle and other animals from roads and highways. Affirming the directions issued by the Rajasthan High Court for removal of stray cattle and other animals from highways and expressways, the Supreme Court bench observed: “A joint coordinated drive shall be undertaken to immediately remove all such animals found on highways/roadways/expressways, including cattle.”
Such animals must be shifted to Goshalas or shelter homes, the Court directed.
“Chief Secretaries of all states/UTs shall ensure strict compliance with this. Otherwise, officers will be held personally responsible. Status to be filed in 8 weeks, indicating mechanism developed to carry out directions,” the Court warned.
The matter dates back to July 28 when a bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan took suo motu cognizance of the stray dog menace in the country based on a media report.
On August 11, the bench passed directions for authorities in Delhi-NCR to relocate the dogs to shelters and barred their release.
This order came under protest from dog lovers and on August 13, the suo motu case was shifted to a three-judge bench led by Justice Nath. This bench heard the matter and stayed the order on August 22.
“Direction given in the order dated 11th August, 2025, prohibiting the release of the treated and vaccinated dogs seems to be too harsh”.
On the basis of Rule 11(9) of the ABC Rules, the bench clarified that stray dogs, which are picked up, must be released back to the same area from where they were picked up, after sterilization, deworming and immunization, except those dogs which are infected with rabies, suspected to be infected with rabies or are exhibiting aggressive behavior.
The bench also ordered a prohibition on public feeding of stray dogs and directed the creation of dedicated feeding spaces. Further, it reiterated the direction in the August 11 order that no individual or organization should obstruct the municipal authorities from picking up the dogs in terms of the ABC rules.
Moreover, the bench expanded the scope of the matter beyond Delhi-NCR and extended it pan-India. All states and UTs, secretaries of animal husbandry department, secretaries of local bodies and municipal corporations were impleaded to ensure the compliance with the ABC Rules. The bench also said that it will transfer to Supreme Court similar petitions pending in High Courts to formulate a national policy on the issue.
