India’s Supreme Court has given Delhi eight weeks to send stray dogs to shelters after a spike in rabies cases. SC also warned that if any person or organisation obstructs the authorities from picking up stray dogs, strict action will be taken against them.


NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court has told Delhi authorities they have eight weeks to collect stray dogs from the streets and move them into shelters. The order follows worrying reports of more rabies cases, especially among children.

Government figures show nearly 430,000 dog bite cases were reported across India in January this year alone, compared with 3.7 million in all of 2024. Experts say Delhi may have as many as one million stray dogs roaming its streets.

The court stepped in after several incidents of children being attacked, some fatally. “Children should be able to move around without fear of being bitten by stray dogs. No sentiment should be involved,” the judges said.

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The Delhi government’s lawyer argued that while sterilising dogs helps control their numbers, it doesn’t stop rabies. But the ruling has sparked criticism from animal welfare advocates, who question where thousands of dogs could realistically be housed.

Conservation biologist Bahar Dutt called the move “impractical,” while Vidit Sharma of Save A Stray said mass vaccination and sterilisation were the most humane and effective ways to deal with the problem long term.

Several animal rights activists and dog lovers were detained by Delhi Police on Monday evening after they gathered at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, around 7:00 PM, to protest a Supreme Court order directing the Delhi government and civic bodies to promptly remove street dogs from the Delhi-NCR streets and relocate them to dog shelters within 8 weeks.

Visuals emerged from the national capital showing police dragging protesters and placing them into police vans during the demonstration. A woman at the scene shared a video, calling it the “real face of Delhi Police.”


Animal Rights Activist Maneka Gandhi, speaking on the Supreme Court’s order said,”This judgment is a suo motu case, which means nobody complained; the judge took it up on his own. We were expecting something like this anyway. Now, if this order is to be followed, it would mean rounding up three lakh dogs in Delhi and placing them in centres. The Delhi government would need to find 1,000–2,000 centres, as too many dogs together would fight.”

“They would first need land, then construct facilities within eight weeks, costing at least Rs 4-5 crore, with caretakers, feeders, and watchmen to prevent escapes. This judgment seems to lack rational thought and stems from anger. Strangely, the order is based on a newspaper report of a child killed by dogs, but the family has confirmed the child died of meningitis,” she added.

“Pick up dogs from all localities and shift them to shelter homes. For the time being, forget the rules,” the bench directed. “Immediate steps need to be taken to take care of the menace of dog bites leading to rabies,” the bench ordered.

The top court said the directions are issued in the larger public interest, adding that children should not, under any circumstances, fall prey to stray dog bites leading to rabies.

The SC also warned that if any person or organisation obstructs the authorities from picking up stray dogs, strict action will be taken against them.

(This article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Brew News and The Free Press Journal)