The Supreme Court on Monday (11 August 2025) gave a big verdict regarding stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, after which a big debate has spread in the country. The stomach lovers are criticizing this decision, stating that inhuman. At the same time, many people welcomed this decision and said that stray dogs often attack children and the elderly. Meanwhile, an important question is arising whether the order of the Supreme Court will be implemented?
The Supreme Court has ordered that stray dogs of Delhi-NCR be shifted to the shelter home. The court has insisted that the roads should be completely free from stray dogs. Municipal bodies have been asked to clarify the situation within 8 weeks.
About 1 million street dogs in Delhi
There are millions of stray dogs in Delhi and there is an exercise to take everyone to such shelter home, which has no existence yet. This is a task that will take a lot of money and time. According to the 2009 survey in Delhi, about 5.6 lakh stray dogs were found here. No such survey has been conducted in the last 16 years, but it is estimated that now the number of stray dogs in Delhi is about 1 million.
20 animal control centers currently in Delhi
If 500 dogs are also kept in every shelter home, then 2000 shelters will still be required. Currently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) runs only 20 animal control centers. This center is a sterilization and care work of dogs. If all these centers are converted to the dog shelter home, yet more than 5 thousand animals will not be able to remain in them.
According to the report of the news agency PTI, Chairman of the Standing Committee of MCD, Satya Sharma said that he will make every effort to implement the court order. However, he admitted that it would take time to prepare a shelter home for dogs due to challenges in allocation of land.
2-3 vans in each zone near MCD to catch dogs
MCD currently has about 2-3 vans to catch dogs in each zone and not enough trend handlers. In such a situation, it will not be easy to collect stray dogs in the residential area. It is also expected that the stomach lovers will oppose the catching dogs in residential areas, which can make the situation stressful. Another challenge is also about the daily expenses in the shelter home. MCD will have to spend hundreds of crores of rupees annually on this.
These shelter homes will require more money as well as other resources like animal ambulances, doctors and CCTV cameras. Apart from this, employees will have to increase to take care of these dogs. MCD officials have said that they will hold a meeting to discuss the construction of the shelter home and the expenditure on it.
26 thousand cases of dog bites in Delhi this year
According to the PTI report, so far this year there have been 26,000 cases of dog bites in Delhi. As of 31 July this year, 49 cases of rabies have been reported in the national capital and between January and June, more than 65,000 stray dogs have been sterilized and vaccinated.