On August 11, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed civic authorities in Delhi-NCR to remove stray dogs from all localities within eight weeks.
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Chief Justice of India BR Gavai stated on Wednesday that he will ‘look into’ the Supreme Court’s order to civic authorities in the Delhi-NCR region to remove all stray dogs and place them in shelters within eight weeks.
The matter was mentioned before a CJI Gavai-led bench by a lawyer, who pointed out that the different benches of the apex court have issued conflicting directions on the stray dogs.
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CJI Gavai noted that “the other judge bench has already passed orders”, but assured the petitioner that he “will look into this.”
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On August 11, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed civic authorities in Delhi-NCR to remove stray dogs from all localities within eight weeks.
The court directed them to sterilise the stray dogs and put them in shelters, and make sure they are not released back.
The order received backlash from animal rights activists, organisations, and individuals, including former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Reacting to the top court’s order, Rahul said that blanket removal of stray dogs is cruel and shortsighted.
“Blanket removals are cruel, shortsighted, and strip us of compassion. We can ensure public safety and animal welfare go hand in hand,” he said.
BJP’s Maneka Gandhi said that the removal is impractical and counterproductive.
“When the dogs from here are displaced, dogs from nearby states will come to Delhi, as there will be more food here. Within a week, there will be another three lakh dogs in Delhi, and these will not be sterilised,” she said.
Animal rights watchdog PETA India also reacted sharply to the apex court’s order, saying the removal is unscientific.
In a statement, PETA India said that the removal of all stray dogs from streets in Delhi-NCR is not scientific and the move will lead to their starvation.
“Communities think of neighbourhood dogs as family, and the displacement and jailing of dogs is not scientific and has never worked,” PETA India said in a statement.
PETA stated that Delhi has around 10 lakh community dogs, and less than half of them are sterilized.
“Forced removal of some 10 lakh community dogs from Delhi’s streets will cause uproar in communities that care deeply for them and chaos and suffering for the dogs on a large scale. It will also ultimately do nothing to curb the dog population, reduce rabies, or prevent dog bite incidents,” it said.
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