'Delhi hounded by stray dogs, kids pay the price': Key observations by Supreme Court in landmark decision

NEW DELHI: In a far-reaching decision aiming to deal with the problem of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court Monday directed govts and civic authorities to remove the canines from the streets and keep them confined to shelter homes.The court made it clear that any resistance from individuals or organisations against the implementation of its order would draw contempt proceedings.Acting on a TOI report, 'City hounded by strays, kids pay the price', which highlighted the problem of dog bites in the capital, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan passed a slew of directions such as constructing shelter homes for stray dogs, creating a helpline to report dog bite cases and making rabies vaccine available in all govt hospitals.

Initially, the court had passed the order only for Delhi but it expanded the ambit of its directions to NCR after solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the court that the problem was not confined to Delhi but also prevalent in Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.

No Sentiments Should Be Involved, Says SC

The court said streets should be freed from stray dogs to keep people, particularly children and the elderly, safe. It emphasised that people, especially animal lovers, should not involve their sentiment in the issue, and they should also think about those who suffer because of dog bites.

“All animal activists and lovers, will they be able to bring back the children who have fallen prey to rabies. "The situation is grim," the bench said.The solicitor general agreed with SC’s sentiments, saying there was helplessness in the eyes of parents who lost their loved ones due to dog bites. He said some stern action should be taken before it is too late. The court thereafter passed orders on the suggestions of senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, who is assisting the bench as amicus curiae, and directed authorities to start picking up all stray dogs at the earliest and shift them to shelter homes.“State of NCT Delhi, MCD and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) are directed to immediately make dog shelters and report about the creation of infrastructure all over the NCT Delhi within eight weeks. The dog shelters shall have sufficient personnel for sterilising and immunising stray dogs, and also for looking after stray dogs who would be detained there. CCTV be installed at shelter homes to ensure no dog is taken out or released," the bench said.

'“State, MCD, NDMC should begin with 5,000 dogs in the next six-eight weeks. They shall at the earliest start picking up stray dogs from all localities, more particularly vulnerable localities, in cities as well as areas on the outskirts. How to do this is for authorities to look into. However, this should be the first and foremost exercise to make all localities free of stray dogs. There should not be any compromise in undertaking any exercise.

If any individual or organisation comes in the way of picking up stray dogs or rounding them up, we will proceed to take stern action against any such resistance,” it said.“Not at any cost should infants and young children fall prey to rabies. This action should inspire confidence that they can move freely without the fear of being bitten by stray dogs. No sentiments should be involved,” the apex court said.Expressing shock over the number of cases of dog bites in the capital, the apex court had on July 28 taken suo motu cognisance of TOI ’s report and decided to examine the way to deal with the crisis.

The court registered a PIL on the basis of the report which said over 60,000 dog bite cases were reported in Delhi in 2023.“It is the first day of the week and the first thing that we should do is to take suo motu cognisance of a very disturbing and alarming newspaper cutting reported by The Times of India in today’s Delhi edition. The newspaper contains some alarming and disturbing figures and facts. Every day, hundreds of dog bites are being reported in the city and the areas on the outskirts, leading to rabies and ultimately young infants, children and aged are falling prey to this dreadful disease. We take suo motu cognisance of this news item. Let the order be placed with the news report before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for appropriate directions,” the apex court had said in its order late last month.