Dog sterilisation: Delhi HC tells agencies to get trained by Lucknow officials

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to organise sterilisation training camps where officials will receive training from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) at the earliest, seeking to expedite the process and ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions on stray dog management

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to organise sterilisation training camps where officials will receive training from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) at the earliest, seeking to expedite the process and ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions on stray dog management.

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A bench of justices Dinesh Mehta and Aditi Choudhary also directed the two civic authorities to organise sterilisation camps in two additional wards each, apart from wards where camps have already been conducted.

“NDMC and MCD are directed to coordinate with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation and hold camp for the training as early as possible, in order to expedite the process of sterilisation and carry out the directions issued by the Supreme Court,” the court said.

The court said officers of both civic bodies had assured it that sterilisation would be expedited and that, besides ensuring that the wards already covered were declared fully covered under Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres, camps would be held in four additional wards -- two each by MCD and NDMC.

The court also asked MCD to prepare a roadmap for implementing the pilot sterilisation camp and submit it for approval.

“We just want to create ripples. We just want to sensitise the public of Delhi. Once this process starts and the residents of Delhi come to know, it might take movement. People will themselves get the dogs to the [ABC] centres. Once the people know they are not being caught and not being harmed, they will themselves help you,” the court said.

The directions came while the court was hearing a suo motu petition monitoring implementation of the Supreme Court’s directions on stray dog management.

The Supreme Court on May 19 refused to modify its November 2025 directions requiring states and Union territories to remove stray dogs from institutional areas such as schools, hospitals, sports complexes, bus depots and railway stations. It also ruled that such dogs cannot be released back into these locations even after sterilisation.

In August 2025, the Supreme Court had noted submissions by counsel for animal lovers that aggressive sterilisation measures in Lucknow and Dehradun, carried out under the ABC Rules, had resulted in a steady decline in the stray dog population.

While dismissing applications seeking recall, clarification or modification of its earlier directions, the Supreme Court held that the ABC Rules, 2023 do not confer any “absolute or unqualified entitlement” to re-release sterilised stray dogs into sensitive public spaces. It also directed high courts across the country to register suo motu continuing mandamus proceedings to monitor implementation of its stray dog management directions.

The Delhi proceedings followed submissions by amicus Gauri Maulekhi that, following her intervention, LMC had assured her that its personnel would travel to Delhi to conduct a 15-day training camp for veterinarians, para-veterinarians and dog catchers. The training would follow modules prescribed by the Animal Welfare Board of India, once MCD and NDMC identified and communicated the locations.

Counsel for the two civic authorities told the court that sterilisation camps had already been organised at Anand Vihar and in Circles 14 and 6 of NDMC. They said the results had been satisfactory and that the sterilisation process would be expedited further.

The matter will next be heard on November 3.