Volunteers hold placards and puppies during a protest, in Chennai
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday clarified that it has not directed the removal of every dog from the streets and its directive was to treat these stray canines according to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.
Taking up a suo motu matter related to the stray dogs, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria observed that a dog can smell people who are either afraid of them or have suffered a dog bite and they attack such persons.
During the hearing, the court was told, in places like Delhi, there is a rodent menace and the national capital also has a unique problem of monkeys. It was submitted that the abrupt removal of canines would lead to an increase in the rodent population, which has consequences.
"When the rodent population goes up, we have seen very disastrous consequences," a counsel said.
To this, the bench said, "In a lighter vein, dogs and cats are enemies. Cats kill rodents. So we should promote more cats."
The counsel said let these dogs also be regulated in a manner that has proved to be the only efficacious manner, which is sterilisation, vaccination and re-release in the territory.
On this, the bench said, "Tell us how many dogs each hospital should have roaming around in the corridors, in wards, near patient beds."
The counsel said the court's intention in the matter was unquestionable and it had noted how the ABC Rules and orders passed by the courts were not implemented.
When one of the advocates referred to the lack of infrastructure, including that of dog shelters, the bench said, "We are all conscious of that."
"Please tell us, is this micro-chipping, which is mandatory for pet dogs, really happening," the bench asked.
One of the lawyers said, "In this country, it is not happening but can it happen, should it happen? In my respectful submission, the answer is yes."
Another counsel referred to the stray dog menace in residential complexes and said public ways have to be kept safe.
"We are under no pressure. You are mistaken," the bench observed, after the lawyer said the apex court was apparently under pressure.
When one of the lawyers argued that one did not know if the dog would like him or not, the court observed, "A dog can always smell a human who is afraid of dogs and who has suffered a dog bite and he will always attack."
The court referred to a report published in an English daily on December 29, 2025 titled, "On the roof of the world, feral dogs hunt down Ladakh's rare species". It said the lawyers should go through the report and come prepared on that on Friday.
Senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, acting as an amicus curiae, said that four states had filed their compliance affidavits in the matter on Wednesday.
Senior advocates C U Singh, Krishnan Venugopal, Dhruv Mehta, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Shyam Divan, Sidharth Luthra and Karuna Nundy made their submissions.