‘Don’t want any dog to die’: Delhi High Court orders pilot sterilisation camps

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to identify one ward each and organise pilot camps for the sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs.

A Division Bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta issued the directions while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation monitoring compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders on stray dog management.

The Bench directed both civic bodies to conduct the exercise in consultation with amicus curiae Gauri Maulekhi, an animal welfare expert, and ensure wide publicity before the camps are held. It ordered that placards be displayed informing the public that stray dogs brought to the camps would only undergo sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination before being released in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.

Suggesting that the pilot project begins in busy public areas, the court said the MCD could choose wards around Connaught Place or India Gate where large numbers of people frequent. “Let us begin with a small area so that we can say every stray dog in that ward is sterilised,” the Bench observed.

During the hearing, MCD standing counsel Manu Chaturvedi informed the court that Animal Birth Control centres had been identified across eight zones, while sterilisation work in the remaining three zones was being undertaken through facilities in neighbouring zones. He submitted that the civic body had also furnished details of stray dog sterilisation and vaccination carried out over the past six months.

When asked about Delhi’s stray dog population, Chaturvedi said there was no official census, though the rough estimate stood at around eight lakh dogs. He said the MCD was maintaining data after sterilisation and suggested that a pilot project involving microchipping of dogs could also be implemented.

Emphasising that the exercise should not create fear among animal lovers, the court said the camps should clearly communicate that dogs would neither be killed nor permanently removed from their localities.

“We will do it very systematically. We will put up a camp and make it clear that the dogs are only being brought for sterilisation and vaccination. Let it begin from one ward so that the message goes that dogs are not being taken to dog pounds or killed,” the Bench observed.

Justice Mehta also acknowledged public concern over dog attacks, noting that his own mother had been bitten twice by stray dogs. At the same time, the court stressed the need to strike a balance between public safety and animal welfare.

“We don’t want any dog to die. This is not an adversarial issue...From today onwards, we don’t want to hear every day that someone has been bitten by a dog. At the same time, I will cry when dogs go. A small percentage of dogs should remain so that future generations do not grow up without seeing them,” the Bench remarked.

The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 1.