SC orders euthanasia of rabid and dangerous dogs to ensure public safety !

• Supreme Court's final order on the menace of stray dogs

• SC also orders prosecution of the officers in case of non-compliance

New Delhi – Dangerous and rabid dogs can be killed by administering injections. Public safety is of utmost importance. The Supreme Court has ordered that any officer who does not follow the orders should be prosecuted for contempt of Court. The Court has dismissed all the petitions in this regard. In November 2025, the Supreme Court had issued directions to remove stray dogs from public places like schools, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations. The Court had stated that the dogs should be kept in shelters and not released back. It had also the banned feeding of dogs on the streets. After this, dog lovers and NGOs had petitioned to revoke this directive.

The Court said during the verdict that in Sri Ganganagar city of Rajasthan alone, 1,084 incidents of dog bites were reported in a month. Children suffered serious injuries, deep wounds on their faces. In Tamil Nadu, about 2 lakh incidents of dog bites were reported in the first 4 months of the year alone.

Supreme Court directives

1. State governments should strengthen the rules of the Animal Welfare Board and ensure their proper implementation.

2. At least 1 fully functional ‘Animal Birth Control Centre’ should be established in each District. Where the population is high, the number of centres should be increased as needed.

3. Court orders and animal welfare rules should be fully implemented.

4. Considering public safety, a decision should be made to implement these rules in other public places as well and they should be implemented within a specified time frame.

5. Adequate availability of anti-rabies drugs should be ensured.

6. The National Highways Authority of India should take necessary steps to address the problem of stray animals on national highways, e.g., by using old transport vehicles to remove them. A monitoring and coordination mechanism should be established for this.

7. In the case of rabid or extremely dangerous dogs, steps such as euthanasia may be taken if required by law to save public lives.

8. Municipalities and government officials who implement Court orders should be given legal protection. Generally, no criminal charges should be filed against them, or strict action should not be taken.

Timeline of the judicial proceedings

This case was filed on July 28th, 2025. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the attacks and deaths caused by stray dogs in the country. On August 11th, 2025, the Court had ordered that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) be captured and sent to shelters within 8 weeks.

Following opposition, the Court reversed the order on August 22nd, 2025, stating that those dogs who do not have rabies and are not aggressive can be released in the same area from which they were captured, after sterilization and vaccination.

The scope of the case was later expanded to the entire country. On November 7th, 2025, in an interim order, the Court had asked the States and the National Highways Authority of India to remove stray animals from the vicinity of highways, hospitals, schools and other institutions.