Oct 27, 2025 – The Supreme Court (SC) today pulled up several States and Union Territories for their failure to comply with its August 22 order in the matter of stray dogs and directed the Chief Secretaries of those States to personally appear before it on November 3.

The August 22 directive mandated the sterilisation, deworming, and immunisation of stray dogs in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The Court noted that so far only West Bengal, Delhi and Telangana had filed compliance affidavits of Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria also warned of coercive steps if this order was not complied with.

"Didn't the officers read newspapers or social media? Haven't they read...even if they are not served they should have been here. All Chief Secretaries to be present here on Nov 3 ... We will hold court in auditorium," the Bench said.

The Court added that India’s image had taken a hit because of the stray dog menace.

“Continuous incidents are happening. Your country is being shown as down in the eyes of foreign nations. We are also reading news reports," Justice Nath said.

The issue dates back to an August 11 order by a Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directing municipal authorities of Delhi-NCR region to begin rounding up stray dogs from all areas and to move them permanently to shelters within eight weeks.

Thereafter, on August 22, a newly-constituted three-judge Bench led by Justice Nath, modified the August 11 order and ruled that the dogs shall be released from dog shelters after being dewormed and vaccinated. It also expanded the scope of the matter pan-India and directed that related petitions pending before High Courts should be transferred to the SC in order to facilitate a unified nationwide policy.

With Media Inputs

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