How a court’s ruling ripped open India’s decades-old debate over stray dogs

An order by India’s top court to authorities in capital Delhi and its surrounding areas to relocate all stray dogs to shelters within eight weeks, citing a rise in rabies cases, has sparked a debate between advocates of animal rights and public safety.

The Supreme Court bench directed the capital's civic bodies to immediately initiate the process of capturing stray dogs from "high-risk areas" and sending them to shelters. India is home to millions of stray dogs and deadly attacks are regularly reported.

At least 60,000 stray dogs live on the streets of Delhi, according to India's Livestock Census of 2012. Activists believe the number of stray dogs living in the capital could be as many as one million.

The sweeping order has triggered city-wide outrage, with activists claiming the lack of preparedness and proper shelter would harm the dogs – considered a beloved part of the community.

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Maneka Gandhi, a former federal minister and animal rights activist, said the Delhi government would need to find up to 2,000 centres to accommodate tens of thousands of community dogs. “This judgment seems to lack rational thought and stems from anger,” she said.

The court in its order on Monday said "the situation is extremely grim", adding that it was passed while "keeping (the) larger public interest in mind".

"Infants, young children should not at any cost fall prey to stray dogs," it said.

The court has ordered the civic authorities to immediately initiate the process of capturing 5,000 stray dogs, although it was unclear how the court arrived at the figure. It directed the authorities to sterilise and immunise the stray dogs.

"The dog shelters should have sufficient staff to sterilise and immunise. The dog shelter would be monitored by CCTV," the order said.

The court also ordered authorities to create an animal helpline within a week so that all dog bite cases in the capital can be reported.

It said any individual or organisation that stops authorities from removing stray dogs from the streets will face "strict" legal consequences, while adding that the strays should not be released back on streets, in residential areas or in public places.

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"All these animal activists – will they be able to bring back those who have fallen prey to rabies," the bench of justice JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked.

Data tabled in parliament showed more than 3.7 million cases of dog bites and 54 suspected human deaths from rabies were reported in 2024. A total of 26,334 dog bite cases have been reported in Delhi so far this year, PTI news agency reported, citing government data.

India contributes to 36 per cent of global rabies deaths and 65 per cent of human rabies deaths in the southeast Asia region, according to the World Health Organisation. Rabies through dog bites is caused by a virus that invades the central nervous system. If left untreated, it is almost always fatal.

Delhi cabinet minister Kapil Mishra said the court's order is a step towards freeing New Delhi "from the fear of rabies and stray animals". He added that "special attention will also be given to the comprehensive welfare of stray animals."

The court order saw the city erupt in protest on Monday night.

Police detained animal rights activists, rescuers, caregivers, and dog lovers, who were staging demonstrations in front of India Gate.

“They don’t want us to talk. These people are throwing everyone into jail. I am being detained because I do the noble work of feeding animals,” a caregiver of dogs told ANI news agency.

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India said that it is “unfeasible” to build enough dog shelters. “Forced removal of some 1000,000 community dogs from the streets will cause suffering for them on a large scale," the organisation said.

The top court took the case suo motu on Monday while the Indian political opposition was protesting discrepancies in voter lists and alleged result tampering, which has renewed scrutiny of India's election commission. The latest row began last week after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that almost 100,000 listed voters in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency were fake. The voter lists were replete with duplicate names, wrong addresses and blurred photos, he said, calling this a “theft” of the people’s mandate.