Maneka Gandhi, other animal activists hail Supreme Court decision not to send stray dogs to shelters

Maneka Gandhi, an animal rights activist and former Union Minister, on Friday appreciated the Supreme Court’s decision that called off sending the stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR region to be captured and relocated to shelter homes within eight weeks from the announcement of the verdict. She called the new order a “practical step” that directs civic agencies to capture, neuter, and release the strays back to the same location.

Speaking with a news agency, Gandhi said, “I am very happy with the Supreme Court’s new decision because the earlier order was not feasible to implement. Capturing all dogs and relocating them elsewhere is simply impossible.”

Advertisement

The wave of jubilation spread among the animal rights activists across the national capital. Gauri Maulekhi, associated with animal welfare group People For Animals (PFA), hailed the Supreme Court’s decision, calling it a ‘balanced order’ that will benefit people, improve public health, and certainly offer relief to the animals.

“We are deeply grateful for today’s Supreme Court order upholding the rule of law and reinstating the Animal Birth Control laws, 2023, that were set aside in the previous order,” she added while talking to an agency. Maulekhi emphasised that dogs cannot simply be removed. They must be caught, sterilised, vaccinated, dewormed, and released back to the same location, except in cases where they are aggressive or show symptoms of rabies, a provision included in the earlier law, she added.

However, Gandhi sought clarity about the definition of “aggressive dogs”, a category included in the Court’s order.

“Often, people complain a dog is aggressive simply because it stared at them or approached their car. But what truly defines aggression? The Supreme Court will have to clarify this in the next session,” she said.

While she lauded the revised order, which reinstates the long-standing practice followed for nearly 25 years. Former Union Minister expressed concern over the 800 dogs reportedly picked up by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the last two weeks.

“These dogs have vanished. They were not kept in any shelter but dumped along the Yamuna riverbanks, where water levels are rising. No one knows what has happened to them. If they were indeed aggressive, then why were they left in the open? This contradicts the law itself, as they can wander into nearby colonies,” she added.

Gandhi and Maulekhi welcomed the Court’s order that permits feeding at designated spots to avoid inconvenience caused to the residents. However, they added that ”what we need is proper implementation.”

Gandhi further revealed that several Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres had written to the authorities stating that they lack sufficient space to manage the rising number of sterilisation cases, underscoring the urgent need to expand infrastructure.