Multiple camps held to sterilise, vaccinate stray dogs: Delhi civic body to HC

MCD and NDMC report to Delhi High Court on stray dog sterilisation efforts, confirming multiple camps led to the sterilisation and vaccination of numerous dogs.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that they have held multiple camps over the past three months to sterilise and vaccinate stray dogs in the Anand Vihar ward and around the Supreme Court and high court, pursuant to court directions.

On May 19, the top court had refused to modify its November 2025 order directing all states and Union territories to remove stray dogs from institutional zones (AFP)

MCD’s counsel Manu Chaturvedi told a bench of justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta that the agency held four camps in Anand Vihar on August 21 and 25, and September 3 and 7, sterilising, vaccinating and re-releasing 43 dogs back into their respective areas with the assistance of dog feeders and court-appointed amicus Gauri Maulekhi.

He said the camps, in compliance with high court’s August 3 order, were organised after giving due publicity and also received active cooperation from the public, with no resistance from any individual or organisation. Chaturvedi submitted that the camps would continue so that at least one ward could be declared rabies-free.

Taking note of the submissions, the court directed the MCD and NDMC to file comprehensive status reports by October 5, the next date of hearing.

The submissions were made in a suo motu petition filed to monitor the implementation of the Supreme Court’s stray dog management guidelines. On May 19, the top court had refused to modify its November 2025 order directing all states and Union territories to remove stray dogs from institutional zones, such as schools, hospitals, sports complexes, bus depots, and railway stations. The court had ruled that even sterilised dogs cannot be released back into these areas.

Dismissing pleas seeking a recall or clarification, the Supreme Court had held that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, do not provide any “absolute or unqualified entitlement” to release sterilised strays into sensitive public spaces. The court had also directed all high courts to register suo motu proceedings to track compliance with its orders.

On August 3, the high court had ordered NDMC and MCD to launch a pilot project for stray dog sterilisation, directing them to set up camps in one ward each, in consultation with court-appointed amicus curiae. The court stressed that the civic bodies must give wide publicity to the camps, including displaying prominent placards in the areas, to reassure residents that the drive is only for sterilisation and not for capturing or sending dogs to shelters.

The court also directed the Delhi government to file its response to an action plan prepared by the amicus to eliminate rabies by 2030.