Hon'ble Suprmeme court guidlines #Straydogs : Sterlisation of Dogs, Strictly No Feeding on Streets and many more : Adv. Rohit Erande

HON’BLE Supreme Court on Stray Dogs Issues :

By Adv. Rohit Erande

Finally, the three judges Bench of  Hon'ble Apex Court of India Comprising of Hon. VIKRAM NATH Hon. SANDEEP MEHTA and Hon. N.V.ANJARIA JJ in its order dated 22/08/2025 passed in SUOMOTO WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO(S).5 OF 2025 have framed new guidlines and modified eariler guidlines, which may be summarised as under :

 १. आजारी आणि आक्रमक कुत्री वगळता इतर भटक्या कुत्र्यांना शेल्टर होम मध्ये  ठेवता येणार नाही. मात्र, रेबीजग्रस्त कुत्र्यांना सोडण्यात येणार नाही.

२. सर्व भटक्या कुत्र्यांचे लसीकरण आणि नसबंदी करणे आवश्यक 

३. भटक्या कुत्र्यांना या पुढे सार्वजनिक ठिकाणी भटक्या कुत्र्यांना खायला देता येणार नाही आणि अश्या ठिकाणी खायला देणाऱ्यांवर कायदेशीर कारवाई होईल . भटक्या कुत्र्यांना खायला देण्यासाठी प्रत्येक वार्ड मध्ये  ठरवलेल्या ठिकाणीच   फिडिंग स्पेस उघडल्या जातील.  

४. श्वानप्रेमींना भटकी कुत्री दत्तक घेता येणार, मात्र एकदा दत्तक घेतल्यावर परत कुत्र्यांना रस्त्यावर सोडता येणार नाही. 

५. प्रत्येक श्वानप्रेमी आणि स्वयंसेवी संस्था यांनी अनुक्रमे प्रत्येकी रु. २५,०००/- आणि रु. २,००,०००/- सुप्रीम कोर्टात ७ दिवसांत जमा केल्याशिवाय यापुढे त्यांना या प्रकरणात बाजू मांडता येणार नाही. 

६. हे उद्देश सर्व भारत भर लागू होणार असल्याने आता सर्व राज्य सरकारांना आणि स्थानिक स्वराज्य संस्थांना या संदर्भात पावले लवकरात लवकर पाऊले उचलावी लागणार आहेत

 

Earlier Guidelines	New /Modified Guidelines
(i) Start picking up and rounding the stray dogs from all localities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Faridabad, Gurugram as well as areas on the outskirts, and relocate these dogs into designated shelters/pounds.	Unchanged
(ii) The appropriate authorities of NCT of Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurugram & Faridabad are directed to immediately create dog shelters/pounds and report to this Court the creation of such infrastructure all over the National Capital Region (NCR). A report in this regard shall be filed before this Court within a period of eight-weeks.	Unchanged
(iii) In no circumstances, should these stray dogs after their relocation be once again released back onto the streets. In this regard proper records should be maintained by the concerned authorities regularly.   (iv) The stray dogs shall be captured, sterilized, de-wormed and immunized as required by Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and as noted above, shall not be released back. The dog shelters/pounds should have sufficient personnel to sterilize, deworm and immunize stray dogs and also for looking after the stray dogs who would be detained.	The directions contained in paras 12(iii)and 12(iv),to the extent that they prohibit the release of the picked up strays, shall be kept in abeyance for the time being. The dogs that are picked up shall be sterilised, de-wormed, vaccinated, and released back to the same area from which they were picked up. It is ,however, clarified that this relocation shall not apply to the dogs infected with rabies or suspected to be infected with rabies, and those that display aggressive behavior. Such dogs shall be sterilised and immunized, but under no circumstances should they be released back onto the streets. Furthermore, as far as possible, such stray dogs shall be kept in a separate pound/shelter                                              after                                sterilisation                                               and immunisation.
(v) We further make it clear that both the exercise of rounding up of stray dogs as well as the creation of necessary infrastructure in the form of shelters/pounds for the relocation, sterilization, 2 deworming and immunization, shall be undertaken simultaneously. We do not want to hear about even a semblance of lethargy from the concerned authorities on the pre-text of awaiting the creation of shelters/pounds, otherwise, we will proceed to take strict action against these authorities. All authorities are directed to immediately begin the picking up stray dogs and in the same breadth creation of appropriate and adequate shelter homes and pounds across the National Capital Region. 13. Any hindrance or obstruction that may be caused by any individual or organization in the smooth and effective implementation of our aforesaid directions will be viewed as contempt of this Court and we shall proceed to take appropriate action in accordance with law.”	Unchanged, subject to above changes
	New Addtional Guidelines :
	a.   Municipal authorities shall forthwith commence an exercise for creating dedicated feeding spaces for the stray dogs in each municipal ward. b.   The feeding areas shall be created/identified keeping in view the population and concentration of stray dogs in the particular municipal ward. Gantries/notice boards shall be placed near such designated feeding areas, mentioning that stray dogs shall only be fed in such areas. c.    Under no condition shall the feeding of stray dogs on the streets be permitted. d.   The persons found feeding the dogs on the streets in contravention of the above directions shall be liable to be proceeded against under the relevant legal framework. e.    The aforesaid directions are being issued in view of the reports regarding untoward incidents caused by unregulated feeding of stray dogs and to ensure that the practice of feeding dogs on roads and in public places is eliminated, as the said practice creates great difficulties for the common man walking on the streets. e. Each municipal authority shall create a dedicated helpline number for reporting incidents of violation of the above directions. On such a report being 17 received, appropriate measures shall be taken against the individuals/NGOs concerned. f.     The direction given in para 13 of the order dated 11th August 2025, is reiterated with a slight modification that no individual or organisation shall cause any hindrance or obstruction in the effective implementation of the directions given above. In case any public servant acting in compliance with the aforesaid directions is obstructed, then the violator/s shall be liable to face prosecution for obstructing the public servant acting in discharge of official duty. g.     Each individual dog lover and each NGO that has approached this Court shall deposit a sum of Rs.25,000/- and Rs.2,00,000/-, respectively, with the Registry of this Court within a period of 7 days, failing which they shall not be allowed to appear in the matter any further. h.   The amounts so deposited shall be utilised in the creation of the infrastructure and facilities for the stray dogs under the aegis of the respective municipal bodies. h. The desirous animal lover/s shall be free to move the application to the concerned municipal body for adoption of the street dogs, upon which the 18 identified/selected street dog/s shall be tagged and given in adoption to the applicant. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant(s) to ensure that the adopted stray dogs do not return to the streets. i.      The municipal authorities shall file an affidavit of compliance with complete statistics of resources, viz., dog pounds, veterinarians, dog catching personnel, specially modified vehicles/cages available as on date for the purpose of compliance of the ABC Rules. 34. Since the application of the ABC Rules

 

 Nevertheless, the proprper implementaion is the question !! Let's hope for the best. 

Regds

Adv. Rohit Erande