Overview

• Earlier on Thursday, a separate bench declined an urgent listing of a plea against an MCD notification, leaving the August 11 directions operational for now.
• The August 11 order directs authorities to capture, sterilise, vaccinate and keep dogs in shelters without re-release, with at least 5,000 shelter slots to be created within eight weeks across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.
• Chief Justice B. R. Gavai reassigned the matter from a two-judge bench to a larger bench led by Justice Vikram Nath after objections citing conflicts with the Animal Birth Control Rules and prior Supreme Court guidance.
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged immediate intervention citing severe bite incidents involving children, while senior advocates for animal-welfare groups argued the mass-capture plan is unlawful under the ABC framework and unworkable given limited shelter capacity.
• The MCD reported initial pickups and temporary shelter conversions as protests spread nationwide and disputes over dog-bite and rabies data sharpened the legal and policy divide.