SC’s verdict is apt
The Supreme Court’s verdict on Tuesday was not about dogs alone. It was about the State’s forgotten promise of public safety. By holding that the “right to live with dignity encompasses the right to live freely without threat from dog bites,” a bench of the SC said ending years of legal ambiguity and placed human life where it belongs.
Notably, the apex Court refused to recall its November 7, 2023 directions. It observed that stray dogs picked up for sterilisation and vaccination will not be released back to the streets. They must go to designated shelters.
Second, it upheld the Animal Welfare Board of India’s SOPs, rejecting every challenge to their validity. Third, it indicted States and Union Territories for a ‘discernible absence’ of sustained effort to build infrastructure. The Animal Birth Control framework, the bench said, remains sporadic, underfunded and uneven.
Finally, the SC widened the net: not just colonies, but schools, hospitals, railway stations, national highways and expressways must be cleared of strays and cattle. This is not judicial activism. It is judicial exasperation. The case began suo motu in July 2023 after children in Delhi died of rabies.
On November 7 last year, the Court ordered relocation after sterilisation. When Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Tamil Nadu failed to comply, the bench reserved judgment on January 29 and returned with a rebuke. Tuesday’s order is the consequence of that failure.
Ironically, India loses 18,000-20,000 people to rabies each year. One-third are children. A bite is not a nuisance; for a family that cannot afford ₹2,000 for immunoglobulin, it is a death sentence.
In Jammu and Kashmir alone, 6,844 dog-bite cases were recorded in 2024, with 30-40 new cases daily in 2026. Tourists are mauled, sanitation workers demand escorts, and elders skip dawn prayers out of fear. A Constitution that guarantees life under Article 21 cannot be neutral when the street becomes a hazard.
Importantly, the Apex Court’s sharpest words were reserved not for dogs but for governments. The ABC Rules have existed since 2001, revised in 2023. They mandate sterilisation, vaccination, and sheltering of aggressive or rabid animals. Yet shelters are absent, targets are missed, and funds lapse. Municipalities wait for PILs so that judges can do the job of commissioners. That is not compassion; it is abdication.
What has been worrisome is that more than 10,000 dog bite cases are being reported annually in Kashmir and health experts have sounded alarm over what they describe as a growing public health crisis driven by rising stray dog populations, poor waste management and lack of awareness regarding rabies prevention.
Doctors and veterinary experts say that hospitals across the Valley continue to witness a steady stream of patients seeking anti-rabies vaccination after attacks by stray and domestic dogs, with children emerging among the worst affected victims.
Officials in the health sector say that hundreds of dog bite cases are reported every month from Srinagar and other districts, particularly from densely populated urban and semi-urban areas where stray dog populations have expanded rapidly over the years.
Medical experts warned that even seemingly minor scratches and bites should never be ignored as rabies remains one of the deadliest viral infections killing people across the world.
The canine issue needs a well-defined policy at all levels. This issue is proving to be a key health challenge which needs to be tackled with utmost caution and within a stipulated time frame.
