Overview
- On November 7, the court directed all states and union territories to take dogs off streets, including at schools, hospitals and transport hubs, move them to designated shelters after sterilisation and vaccination, and secure campuses with fencing and nodal officers within eight weeks.
- Practitioners say the needed infrastructure does not exist at scale, noting Delhi’s roughly one million dogs and about 20 centers, with NGOs adding that per-dog payments for sterilisation and vaccination are below actual costs.
- The Animal Welfare Board of India’s 2025 guidance cautions that removing dogs can create territorial vacuums that draw in unsterilised animals and increase conflicts and bites.
- NGOs and experts press for stronger ABC implementation, mass vaccination and education on safe behaviour, and some groups say they are preparing a review petition challenging the directive.
- Vijayawada illustrates the gap between orders and capacity, reporting about 40,000 street dogs, 320 kennels and roughly 14,000 sterilised; the city is issuing notices for fencing, appointing nodal officers and designating 59 feeding zones.