Stray dogs: Blanket direction without evaluating infra may led to catch-22 situation, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said a “blanket direction” to pick up stray dogs in Delhi-NCR and place them in shelters without evaluating the existing infrastructure might lead to a “catch-22 situation” as the directive might be impossible to comply with.

The apex court modified its August 11 direction, which prohibited the release of vaccinated stray dogs from pounds in Delhi-NCR, calling it “too harsh” and ordered the canines to be released post sterilisation and de-worming.

“A blanket direction to pick up all the strays and place them in dog shelters/pounds without evaluating the existing infrastructure may lead to a catch-22 situation because such directions may be impossible to comply with,” it said.

A three-judge special bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath said the intent behind the August 11 order was salutary inasmuch as it works towards protecting the citizens at large from attacks by aggressive and rabid stray dogs.

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“However, there are certain vital factors that call for a balancing exercise so that the order dated August 11, 2025, can be taken to its logical conclusion while keeping its ambit within the contour of the legal framework, i.e., the ABC (Animal Birth Control) Rules, 2023,” the bench, also comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, said.

It said Rule 11(19) of the ABC Rules clearly provided that once stray dogs have been sterilised, inoculated and dewormed, they have to be released back in the same locality from which they were picked up.

The bench said the mandate to keep all stray dogs picked up from Delhi-NCR in municipal shelters or pounds would require logistics of “gargantuan proportions” including manpower, veterinarians, cages and specially modified vehicles for transportation of the captured canines.

“It cannot be gainsaid that before any direction for impounding the entire stray dog population is given, it would be necessary to have a look at the existing infrastructure and human resources available with the municipal bodies,” it said.

It said the August 11 direction that stray dogs shall not be released back onto the streets was for ensuring that same number of canines does not land back on the streets as were picked up for sterilisation and immunisation, as this would “literally become a vicious circle”.

The top court referred to the provision in Rule 11(19) that dogs, upon sterilisation and immunisation, should be relocated to the same locality was scientifically carved out as it serves two purposes.

“Firstly, the same prevents the scope of overcrowding in the dog shelters/pounds, and secondly, the picked-up stray dogs after immunisation and sterilisation are relocated to the same environment where they were living earlier, which is a compassionate treatment,” the bench said.

The top court passed the order on the interim prayer seeking a stay on some of the directions passed on August 11 by a two-judge bench.

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The bench delivered its order in a suo motu case initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.

Widespread protests were reported across the country following the apex court’s August 11 order.