Following the Supreme Court’s directions to municipal bodies in Delhi-NCR to pick up stray dogs and move them to shelters, Delhi Development Minister Kapil Mishra said the government’s Animal Husbandry department will work with all agencies to study the order and ensure its proper implementation.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Supreme Court’s order shows a path to free Delhi from the fear of rabies and stray animals.”
Issuing directions to the Delhi government, civic bodies, and authorities of Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad, the top court Monday noted that the “situation” arising out of the menace is “grim” and “immediate steps need to be taken” to address it.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked the authorities, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), to immediately do the needful, build shelters, and report about the creation of infrastructure to the court within eight weeks.
The SC had taken suo motu cognizance of the matter last month based on a news report. “If any individual or organisation comes in the way of picking stray dogs or rounding them up, we will proceed to take action against any such resistance,” it added.
According to the MCD, 65,000 dog bite cases have been reported till July. The figure was 74,000 in 2024, including pet dog bite cases. It was 57,000 in 2023; however, pet dog bite cases were not registered that year.
The MCD has a total of 20 shelters across Delhi, where NGOs carry out sterilisation of dogs, according to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023. The Rules also mandate that the animal needs to be released back in the same locality after sterilisation.
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According to the MCD officials, around 65,000 dogs have been sterilised and immunised till July 31. This number was 1,31,137 in 2024, around 80,000 in 2023, 59,000 in 2022 and 91,000 in 2021.
The official also added that since 2023, around 57 MCD wards have achieved a target of 70%-80% sterilisation as per ABC Rules.
Earlier this month, a sub-committee formed by the MCD’s Standing Committee had planned to carry out a dog census soon, amid an outcry over rising cases of stray dog bites raised by the councillors of several wards.
