On Monday, our overworked justice system, which still hasn’t been able to give a verdict on Umar Khalid’s case or hear the case suo motu, found time and inclination to address a far larger problem — the stray dog menace in the capital. You read that right. It appears rapes, murders, burglaries, drunk driving, shootings in the National Capital Region have not stirred our honourable justices as much as dog bites have. 

A Division Bench comprising the very Honourable Justice J B Pardiwala and equally Honourable Justice R Mahadevan decided that they will ensure that no human in NCR is ever harmed — by a stray dog. 

The very honourable justices ruled that all of Delhi’s stray dogs must be caught and removed from the streets of NCR never to be seen again, and caught “by any means required”. Within eight weeks, shelters to house eight lakh stray dogs are to be built. Where did I get this figure? From the good people in the highest court of justice in the land. 

Here are some top picks from the judgment:

“We need to pick up round up with whatever means to ensure dog free locality and that's how children and aged will feel safe.”

“Have you seen the classic ‘Good, Bad and the Ugly’ - when you want to shoot, shoot don’t talk. It’s not the time to talk but act. All these so-called animal lovers, will they be able to bring back those children who have given their lives?” Who knew Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach were role models for our justice league? Maybe someone should let the good men in court know that this line is spoken by Tuco, played by Wallach, in his role as an unscrupulous Mexican bandit. Tuco is not one to emulate, given his propensity for violence. 

“Infants and young children, not at any cost, should fall prey of rabies. The action should inspire confidence that they can move freely without fear of being bitten by stray dogs. No sentiments should be involved.” Why had the government not sterilised and vaccinated these strays already? Given that it has had an Animal Birth Control budget at its disposal.

“Create helpline within 1 week so that all cases of dog bites and rabies are reported. Action should be taken within 4 hours to pick up dog after complaint is received and any action of individual or organisation coming in the way will be taken with stern action. The said dog will be sterilised and shall not be released.” You’d be lucky if you can get a police van or ambulance to come help you by calling a helpline, but sure. A for Effort. 

In 20 years of my living in Delhi, the government has not been able to provide shelter to homeless humans or to ailing people travelling to AIIMS for medical treatment. Ministers and judges drive by AIIMS, without being moved by the hundreds of people sitting on the pavements outside waiting to be treated by the hospital. In a city in which women cannot step out without fear after dusk, where anyone speaking in Bengali is considered an infiltrator, where Rohingyas are prosecuted — what hope do stray dogs have?

If you think the Justices in the absence of shelters will allow the strays to be housed in the ample lawns of their house – as a measure of kindness to the humans of NCR – you can think again. 

If you are educated and slightly well-informed, you don’t need to be a dog lover to know that there is only one solution to rabies and over-population of dogs: that you vaccinate and sterilise, and decrease animal cruelty. But for that, you would need to actually use the funds collected for these measures. But who knows where the ABC funds are. Much like the Nirbhaya Fund which seems to have never been used, the funds raised for setting up shelters and sterilisation drives, seem to have vanished. It’s a kind of magic.

Of course, there should be no attacks by dogs, but there are humane and workable ways of ensuring that. Sterilisation, vaccination and feeding. Have dog haters and even those whose family members have been attacked or killed by rabid dogs, stopped and asked why these dogs were not vaccinated or sterilised by the MCD and government despite funds raised for Animal Birth Control? Where is the money that was allotted for sterilisation and vaccination? 

Dogs in Delhi – and humans – are sexually assaulted, beaten, killed. This is a regular occurrence. But getting rid of the defenceless isn’t the way forward, just because you as a government cannot implement the right measures. Fun fact: there is not even one single government-run shelter in Delhi. At least if you as a government will not do your duty, extend support to organisations or civilians who take it on themselves to sterilise, vaccinate and feed these strays. 

Goes against rules

This directive goes totally against the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules 2023 or the Government Of India’s own statement in Parliament that “intensive implementation of ABC is the only rational, scientific solution” to control dog populations and rabies. It was just last year in May, after 16 years of hearings, that a CJI bench upheld the ABC rules. The ABC-based roadmap for Delhi was simple and implementable: upgrade ABC facilities, carry out zonal sterilisation and vaccination, regulate breeding, and make sure garbage is disposed of correctly.

Dog bites are happening for exactly the reason being proposed as a solution. This is not my theory – this is what has been stated by Maneka Gandhi and various animal care groups who are working on the ground. Dogs are picked up for sterilisation and simply dropped off at a random unfamiliar location. The dog is disoriented, doesn’t even know where to get food from – given that food is usually provided by carers in the area – and slowly gets more and more nervous and aggressive. Dogs like most animals – and clearly the denizens of Delhi – are territorial. They then fight with the dogs of the new area they find themselves in and get increasingly violent, especially since they are hungry, displaced and most importantly in pain because they are recovering from surgery.

The government has reneged on every promise: not relocating dogs properly, not sterilising, not vaccinating. But in a city infamous for sexual violence, crimes against children, and the hounding of migrants, is it any surprise that animals are treated worse than humans?

In 20 years, there has been no monitoring committee set up to check how many stray dogs live in the state. But then again, we haven’t had a caste or population census for humans since 2010. Dogs are very low on the pecking order. Animal Birth Control centres are either not operational or are a law unto themselves. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi data and recent surveys, Delhi alone has an estimated stray dog population of around 10 lakh. Of this only a meagre 4.7 lakh were sterilised in 2023.

Which is why this plan is absurd – and suspicious. How can all 6 lakh stray dogs be placed in shelters that don’t exist? Where is the money? Where is the space? Will these dogs even make it to shelters, or will they simply vanish?

And even if the state does follow through on Clint and Tuco’s “advice,” we’d need to build a Great Wall around Delhi-NCR or post snipers at the border to stop unsterilised dogs from neighbouring states.

Simply put: this is an impractical, short-sighted move that will ensure even more dogs enter the capital. Clearly, the wise judges have never seen a wildlife documentary or flipped through a National Geographic. To borrow their own words – this is indeed an “extremely grim” state of affairs.

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