Stray dogs case: Let public, educational institutions start their own animals cells and not bank on municipal authorities, one of nation’s oldest law centre tells SC

The Campus Law Centre at Delhi University, one of the oldest legal education centres in the country, urged the Supreme Court on Thursday (January 8, 2026) to not bank on bureaucracy or municipal authorities to humanely resolve the problem of stray dogs. The faculty said the trick to resolve the problem is simple - do it yourself.

The centre said the inaction of the authorities galvanised students and faculty members to start an ‘animal cell’.

The cell members identified 49 stray dogs in their premises. Taking the expert help of a vet, the members have already vaccinated and sterilised 28 of the dogs. The counsel for the centre said the stray population has not increased.

The counsel drew the attention of a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath to how stray cattle continue to roam the roads of the national capital and suburbs, nonchalantly stopping traffic, even posing a health hazard.

Stray bovine continue to occupy public space despite repeated orders of the courts since late 1990s and early 2000s to municipal authorities to remove them.

“A day before the court hearing, the municipal authority would come to court and say that they had removed eight cattle. If the court still appeared dissatisfied, the authority would reveal that gaushalas were filled beyond capacity, and there was absolutely no room for more,” the counsel submitted.

The centre said there were only five government-owned dog shelters across the country, located in Chandigarh, Kanpur, Jammu, Srinagar and Noida. The private shelters were filled to the brim. Infrastructure required much to be done, it submitted.

Justice Nath asked if the municipal authorities had offered to help the centre deal with the stray dogs humanely. The counsel replied in the negative.

He said the court ought to pass an order directing institutions to have their ‘animal cells’.

The hearing largely concerned a November 7, 2025 order of the apex court directing States and Union Territories to “forthwith” remove stray dogs from the premises of educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands and depots, and railway stations, and relocate them “to a designated shelter” after due sterilisation and vaccination in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

One of the senior counsel appearing for animal rights activists groups’ side argued that an abrupt removal of stray dogs may adversely impact the urban environment. Rodents were equally a threat in cities.

Justice Sandeep Mehta, on the Bench along with Justice N.V. Anjaria, light-heartedly suggested “having more cats than dogs” to combat the rodent problem.

“There are stray dogs roaming the corridors of public hospitals, near patients’ beds. People who use these institutions should not be subject to dog bites,” Justice Mehta observed orally.

A counsel for activists groups submitted that problem stemmed from the inefficient implementation of the ABC Rules, violation of the Rules by the municipal authorities should not lead to its jettisoning. Instead, the violators ought to be punished.

Another counsel, seeking a modification of the November 7 order, said the directions should extend to resident welfare associations. He said most dog-feedings points were located half-a-km apart from each other while stray canine packs have 200 to 300-yard territories. A hungry dog moving to a feeding point may come in with another pack, triggering aggressive behaviour. Moreover, humans living within the territory also come to risk.

The counsel said the Rules were after all meant to reduce the dog population, not to protect them.