Supreme Court directs for removal of stray dogs from schools and hospitals

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed for removal of stray dogs from the institutional areas such as educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands, and railway stations and shifting them to shelter homes.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria said against the backdrop of alarming rise in dog bites incidents within institutional areas, it is essential to issue directions in the interest of public safety, health, and management of stray dogs.

The court directed that such canines should be moved to designated shelters.

The court directed the authorities to prevent the ingress of stray dogs into the premises of government and private educational institutions and hospitals, etc, to prevent dog bite incidents.

Pronouncing the order, Justice Mehta said, these directions have been issued in the interest of public safety, health, and management of stray dogs.

The bench said the state governments and union territories, through their respective local or municipal authorities, within a period of two weeks, identify all government and private educational institutions, hospitals, including district hospitals, primary health centres, and medical colleges, public sports complexes, bus stands, and railway stations.

The bench said the administrative heads of these institutions, through their local authorities, under the overall supervision of the district magistrate, ensure that the premises are secured by adequate fencing, boundary walls, and other structural measures necessary to prevent the ingress of stray dogs.

The court said, the management of every educational institution, hospital, sports complex, railway station, bus stand, should designate a nodal officer responsible for the cleanliness of the premises and for ensuring stray dogs do not enter the area.

The bench said the stray dogs found in these areas should be moved to a designated shelter after due sterilisation and vaccination in accordance with the Animal Birth Control rules.

“The stray dogs picked up should not be released to the same location (from which they were picked),” the bench ordered.

The court fixed the matter for further hearing after eight weeks.

The bench also issued directions to the authorities to ensure the removal of cattle and other stray animals from highways and expressways, and their relocation to designated shelters.

The bench on November 3, said it will pass interim directions to tackle the issue of "grave menace" of dog bites in institutional areas, where employees feed and encourage stray dogs.

The suo motu case was initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.

The apex court had expanded the scope of the stray dogs’ case beyond the confines of Delhi-National Capital Region, and directed that all states and union territories be made parties in the matter.