Supreme Court orders immediate removal of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets

New Delhi: In a significant intervention, the Supreme Court on Monday directed civic bodies across Delhi-NCR to immediately capture all stray dogs and relocate them to shelters, citing serious concerns over public safety and the rising risk of rabies.

A bench comprising Justices J. B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan termed the situation “grim” and emphasised that urgent action was necessary to ensure the safety of children, women, and the elderly on the streets.

“We have to make the streets completely free of stray dogs. The time for action is now,” the court observed.

The directive covers the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and civic agencies in Noida, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad.

The court has ordered these civic agencies to begin picking up all stray dogs in their jurisdictions and move them to designated shelters. If such shelters do not already exist, the authorities have been instructed to construct them without delay and submit a report on the infrastructure to the court within eight weeks.

The bench also issued a stern warning that any organisation or group that obstructs the removal of stray dogs would face strict legal consequences.

The matter came up during a hearing on the growing menace of stray dogs in urban areas, during which Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the court to step in with strong directions to remedy the situation. He stressed the urgent need for preventive measures to address the threat of rabies and attacks on pedestrians.

The Supreme Court’s order marks one of the most sweeping moves yet in tackling the stray dog crisis in the capital region, with the potential to significantly alter the urban landscape and the way stray animals are managed.

IANS