SC hauls up Chief Secys of states on stray dog menace

Taking strong exception to the non-filing of affidavits in the stray dog menace case, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories, except those of West Bengal and Telangana, to appear before it on November 3 to explain why compliance affidavits were not filed.

A three-judge Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath noted that only the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the states of West Bengal and Telangana had filed their compliance affidavits following its August 22 order.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria, criticised other states and UTs for failing to submit affidavits detailing steps taken to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.

Stating that its August order 22 “contained everything”, the Bench lamented the absence of representation from the defaulting states despite notices having been issued and the order being “widely reported in the media”.

“Didn’t the officers read newspapers or social media? Haven’t they read… even if they are not served, they should have been here. All Chief Secretaries must be present here on November 3… We will hold court in an auditorium,” the Bench remarked.

“Incidents are happening continuously, and the country’s image is being shown as declining in the eyes of foreign nations. We are also reading news reports,” the Bench said while hearing a suo motu PIL on the stray dog menace. Taking cognisance of a report on the death of a six-year-old girl in the national capital due to rabies caused by stray dog bites, the court had initiated suo motu proceedings on the issue.

Earlier, on August 11, a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan had directed authorities to permanently relocate all canines from the streets to shelters “at the earliest”.

Subsequently, a Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath modified those directions on August 22, clarifying that dogs could be released in the same area after being sterilised and immunised.

Expanding the scope of the suo motu case, the apex court transferred to itself all stray dog-related cases pending before various high courts and issued notices to all states through their Animal Husbandry Secretaries.

The Bench indicated that it would frame a national policy on stray dogs after hearing all states.

According to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, India had 1.53 crore street dogs in 2019. In 2024, 37,15,713 dog bite cases were reported across the country.