Hours after the Supreme Court directed civic authorities in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to catch, sterilise, and provide permanent shelter for stray dogs, officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) admitted that the city’s current infrastructure is far from adequate to meet the target.
Delhi does not have special shelters just for stray dogs and has only 20 sterilisation centres. Together, these centres can opearte on about 2,500 dogs at one time, which is much less than required. Experts say that to control the stray dog numbers well, at least 70% of them need to be sterilised, but the present facilities are not likely allow for that target to be met, sources added.
Stray Dog Population and Sterilisation Capacity
Delhi has an estimated stray dog population of about six lakh. To bring this number down, around 4.5 lakh dogs need to be sterilised every year. However, with the current facilities, only about 1.25 lakh dogs can be sterilised annually. Dr. VK Singh, former Director of the MCD Veterinary Department, emphasized the importance of building more shelters. He said there should be two types of shelters—one for dogs waiting to be sterilised and another for those that have already undergone the procedure. “The stray dog population has increased a lot, and sterilisation will take time,” he added.
Supreme Court’s Directives to Authorities
On Monday, the Supreme Court gave strict orders to the authorities in Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram to deal with the stray dog problem urgently and without compromise. The court, led by Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, emphasized that the goal is to make sure “infants and young children can move freely without fear of being bitten by stray dogs.” This order came after the court’s own investigation into increasing rabies cases and dog bites, particularly among children and elderly people. The authorities were told to build shelters with CCTV cameras within eight weeks, start capturing 5,000 stray dogs from high-risk areas in six weeks, and ensure that dogs caught and sterilised are not released back onto the streets.
