Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on Tuesday said that he welcomes the Supreme Court’s order to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets within six to eight weeks, as it is in favour of the people.
While speaking to CNN-News18, Singh asserted that the removal of the stray dogs would be carried out in a phased manner, as directed by the top court. The mayor said that first, the sick dogs would be identified and sent to shelter homes.
“We will implement the order in a phased manner. We will send those dogs first to shelter homes that are suffering from some disease," he said.
He further said that the Delhi Municipal Corporation would develop 20 sterilisation centres into dog shelter homes.
While hearing a suo motu case into rising dog-bite incidents in the national capital region, the apex court on Monday issued strong directions to the Delhi civic body to round up stray dogs, sterilise them, and move them permanently to shelters, noting that the order should be enforced strictly to make New Delhi and its adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) safe.
Calling the stray dog menace “extremely grim", the top court ordered the authorities to permanently relocate all strays from streets to shelters “at the earliest", and warned of strict action against anyone obstructing the drive.
The bench also instructed civic bodies to build shelter capacity for at least 5,000 dogs as an immediate step, hire staff for sterilisation and vaccination, install CCTV in shelters, create a helpline for bite reports, and consider a dedicated task force.
This ruling applies to Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad, and covers both sterilised and unsterilised animals.
The Supreme Court’s directive has sparked a heated public debate.
PETA India has called the ruling “impractical" and “illogical", stressing that Delhi’s estimated 10 lakh stray dogs make mass sheltering “simply impossible" and risk “very bad" conditions. Activists also warn of trauma, starvation, and disease outbreaks if dogs are confined in large numbers.
Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) also called for a massive sterilisation and vaccination campaign, opposing the SC decision.
“The solution lies in scaling up Delhi’s sterilisation and vaccination programmes, implementing robust waste management to reduce conflict, and running public awareness campaigns on co-existence. This approach protects both human and animal health, complies with Indian law, and upholds Delhi’s commitment to humane, science-based governance," Bharati Ramachandran, CEO of FIAPO said in a statement.
Animal rights groups and activists argue the order violates the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which require that sterilised and vaccinated dogs be released back into their original locations
Protesters propose strengthening the ABC programme with proper funding, better coordination between civic bodies, and partnerships with NGOs to scale up sterilisation and vaccination drives.
Source: News18