Activists Plan Hunger Strike Over India Supreme Court's Ruling On Stray Dogs

2026-05-20 11:22:10

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Animal rights activists in Delhi are planning to go on a hunger strike at the Ramlila ground to protest against the Supreme Court's observations on stray dogs.

India 's apex court on Tuesday allowed euthanasia for rabid, incurably ill or dangerous stray dogs to prevent attacks on humans. While activists are opposed to the ruling, many, including resident groups and relatives of victims of dog bites have welcomed the orders.

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A Supreme Court bench dismissed all challenges on stray dog management and asserted that governments cannot remain passive spectators when citizens face constant threats of dog attacks in public places. The crisis has reached alarming levels in India, it added, because of poor implementation of the 'Animal Birth Control (ABC) framework.

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It also linked the issue directly to article 21 of the Indian Constitution, pointing out that the right to life includes the right to move freely in public without fear of attacks.

“The Constitution does not envisage a society where children and elderly citizens are left to survive on the mercy of physical strength or chance”, noted the Supreme Court.

The court ordered every district in the country to set up at least one fully functional ABC centre and directed state governments to develop infrastructure and ensure availability of anti-rabies medicines, and better veterinary and vaccination services.

The ABC rules treat sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination as the key to controlling stray dogs. But the animals have to be released to the same locality from where they were picked up as they are territorial creatures.

Animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi said the court has merely restated its earlier order.“In these six months, the Supreme Court has realised that there has been national non-compliance - not one state or one district, nobody has done what they said. As a result, they have said, okay, now if you have a problem, go to the high court. That's all.”,” Maneka (widow of Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) told reporters.

But Vijay Goel, a senior BJP leader, who has been actively campaigning against stray dogs, welcomed the court order. He said:“Despite the court order, there will still be laxity in dealing with this issue because the system itself is slack."

“In Delhi, there are still no shelter homes for dogs, no meetings have been held to discuss the issue or take feedback from people, designated places for feeding dogs are yet to be fixed," added Goel, noting "all the resident welfare associations in India should welcome the Supreme Court order."

Many relatives of victims of dog bites claim that the authorities had failed to protect attacks on citizens near hospitals, schools and residential colonies.