Supreme Court Orders States to Address India's Stray Dog Crisis: Compliance and Implementation Challenges

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court criticized state governments on Monday for failing to submit affidavits confirming compliance with its August directive to capture, neuter, and release stray dogs nationwide.

The court expressed frustration, noting multiple stray dog attacks had occurred since issuing its order.

Recent incidents include a child attacked in Pune, Maharashtra, and another young girl assaulted by approximately 20 dogs in the state's Bhandara district.

Last week in Kerala, in an ironic incident, a performer in a street play about stray dogs was attacked in Kannur district. Additional attacks were reported from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, where three family members were bitten, and from Warangal, Telangana within the past 48 hours.

"Yet no reply from state governments. Your country is being portrayed in a bad light internationally!" the exasperated court declared, "Two months granted... yet no response!"

The court subsequently demanded explanations from all state and union territory administrations.

"Don't you read newspapers? The order passed on August 22 was widely reported... all chief secretaries from all states to remain personally present in court and explain delay."

The bench observed that only West Bengal, Telangana, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had submitted responses, though these weren't officially recorded as they were filed during the Diwali recess.

A three-judge special bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, and Justice NV Anjaria noted the Delhi government's failure to file an affidavit, prompting another stern rebuke.

"MCD has filed a reply, but the Delhi government has not?"

Rajasthan has begun implementing the court's directive, with the Department of Autonomous Governance issuing strict instructions to all municipal corporations, councils, and municipalities mandating compliance.

The implementation includes designating feeding points in every ward and locality, with urban bodies instructed to collaborate with resident welfare associations and animal welfare organizations. Stray dogs are to be treated, sterilized, tagged, and released in their original locations.

Last month, officials in Noida in the Delhi-NCR region initiated a survey to map and monitor the stray dog population citywide, aiming to enhance sterilization, vaccination, and management efforts. Resident welfare associations, apartment owners' associations, and animal welfare non-profits were requested to submit reports with photographs identifying sterilized, unsterilized, aggressive, and rabies-suspect dogs in their areas.

By mid-September, the Greater Chennai Corporation had intensified its stray dog control measures in accordance with the Supreme Court's order. By September 15, the GCC had vaccinated 46,122 dogs against rabies. Additionally, it had microchipped over 12,000 dogs for identification and geo-mapped them to monitor sterilization and vaccination status.

In its August 22 order, the court modified a directive issued 11 days earlier.

The revised order stated that stray dogs must be returned to their original capture locations, but only following sterilization and immunization. Exceptions were made for animals infected with rabies or displaying aggressive behavior. The Animal Birth Control rules are to be followed for now, the court specified.

The ABC rules are designed to control the stray dog population and mandate that collected animals be returned to their home territory after sterilization.

Previously, the court had ordered the gathering of all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR area following increased attacks on citizens, including children. However, after pushback from animal activists, the court decided to reconsider the issue and reserved its earlier verdict.