Dogs and Laws

Background

Issue – Supreme Court (Aug 11, 2025) ordered Delhi & NCR to:
- Collect all street dogs within 8 weeks
- Confine them permanently in shelters/pounds
- Expand shelter capacity urgently
Reason – ~30,000 dog bite cases/year in Delhi; rabies deaths among poor with poor access to PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).

Conflict with Existing Law

Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023:
- Doctrine: Capture – Neuter – Vaccinate – Release (CNVR)
- Permanent relocation or long-term impounding prohibited unless:
  1. Dog is rabid
  2. Incurably ill
  3. Declared dangerously aggressive by a vet
- Goal: sterilise ≥70% to control reproduction
- Problem: Coverage gap – rarely achieved → populations rebound.
- Returning dogs to the same area entrenches packs in high-density localities.

Current Legal Framework

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
- Enacted when urban footprint was limited.
- No clear provisions for modern urban density, rabies control, or shelter standards.

Key Problems

Judicial vs Statutory Clash – SC order allows permanent impoundment; ABC Rules forbid it → officials risk either contempt or prosecution.
Urban density & health risk – High bite incidents, rabies risk, garbage attracting packs.
Operational gaps – Poor sterilisation coverage, lack of large-scale teams.
Funding shortfall – ULBs lack steady revenue for shelters, sterilisation, and vet care.
Ideological rigidity – Romanticisation of “community dogs” ignores public health realities.

Suggested Policy Directions

Modernise Legislation:
- Differentiate between:
  - Adoptable sociable dogs
  - Aggressive/chronically ill dogs → euthanasia
  - Residual healthy dogs → long-term shelters
- Ban dogs from living on public roads.
Municipal Accountability:
- Statutory duties for shelters
- Minimum vet staffing & care standards
- Fiscal transfers linked to reduced bite/rabies cases
Funding Mechanism:
- Dedicated central/state scheme under National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
- Finance shelter construction, sterilisation drives.
Workforce Development:
- Integrate shelter medicine into veterinary curricula.
- Build teams for sterilisation and long-term animal care.
Balanced Welfare-Public Health Approach:
- Avoid underfunded “canine prisons” at city periphery.
- Ensure humane, adequately resourced shelters.