Stray dogs case: Plea seeks urgent hearing in Delhi civic body's pick-up plan

A petitioner in the ongoing stray dogs matter on Thursday mentioned an urgent plea before the Supreme Court, seeking an immediate hearing after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) issued a notification to begin picking up dogs from Friday.

The development came even as the bench has reserved its interim order in the case. A connected petition on the stray dogs issue is already scheduled to be heard on Friday by a bench led by Justice Vikram Nath.

When the petitioner flagged the matter, the Supreme Court said the issue must be mentioned before the concerned bench tomorrow, adding, "We cannot interfere when the judgment is reserved".

On August 11, the Supreme Court directed authorities in Delhi-NCR to capture, sterilise, vaccinate, and permanently relocate all stray dogs to shelters within six to eight weeks.

The order, passed by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, followed concerns over rising dog bite incidents and rabies cases, particularly involving children and the elderly. The judges stressed the need to ensure that "infants and children can move freely without fear of being bitten by stray dogs".

The court laid down a five-point directive, instructing Delhi, Noida and Gurugram authorities to build shelters with CCTV monitoring, begin picking up 5,000 stray dogs from vulnerable areas within six weeks, and ensure that none are released back once sterilised.

However, the ruling has sparked sharp criticism from leading animal welfare organisations. Experts told India Today TV that removing dogs from their territories could backfire, trigger chaos on the streets, undermine rabies control measures, and run afoul of both Indian law and global best practices.

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