Overview

• A three-judge Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria has reserved its interim decision on the suo motu directive to capture and permanently house all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR.
• Municipal authorities have initiated limited pickups of stray dogs, converted facilities into temporary shelters and launched a helpline to report and respond to dog-bite cases within four hours.
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defended the original order by citing World Health Organization data of 3.7 million dog bites and 305 rabies deaths in 2024, most among children under 15.
• Animal-welfare organisations and public-health experts warn the plan clashes with the 2023 ABC Rules requiring sterilisation, vaccination and release, and say relocation without adequate capacity will not control rabies.
• Celebrities, bereaved families and NGOs have intensified public debate, calling for empathy, evidence-based mass vaccination campaigns and a multi-year sterilisation strategy alongside any relocation effort.