Ahead of the Supreme Court’s final verdict on stray dog removal, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) issued an official order on August 19. The directive asked NGOs and zonal officials to begin rounding up stray dogs from vulnerable areas and place them in 20 Animal Birth Control centres.
The order came from the deputy director of the rabies control programme. Initially, the drives will focus on locations such as government offices, schools, hospitals, and parks.
“In compliance of orders dated August 11 passed by the Supreme Court of India in the Suo Moto writ petition, all NGOs engaged through MOU by MCD doing the work of sterilizations and immunization of stray dogs are hereby directed to pick up all ferocious, aggressive and habitual biting stray dogs initially from vulnerable points like govt offices, hospitals etc and same shall be kept in their ABC centers,” the order stated.
How the Drive Will Work
The MCD currently manages 20 ABC centres in partnership with 12 NGOs to sterilise and vaccinate stray dogs. Under the new plan, veterinary officers in each zone must also carry out similar operations and send the captured dogs to the nearest ABC unit.
Officials explained that the drives will be carried out ward-wise, with 250 wards distributed across the 20 centres. Workers must upload daily records of the captured dogs on the MCD 311 mobile app. The order further directed that “all NGOs shall keep the CCTV footage of such dogs and will also maintain physical records at the centres.”
So far, 83 dogs were picked up in the first two days of the drive, and 38 more were rounded up on Thursday, an MCD official confirmed.
Challenges in Implementation
Despite the orders, NGOs and experts warned that Delhi lacks the resources to carry out such large-scale operations. Reports highlighted several obstacles, including shortage of staff, no permanent shelters, and financial strain. Officials estimate the daily cost of maintaining one dog is ₹110. Moreover, Delhi has not conducted a citywide dog census in 16 years, making it difficult to know the exact population.
NGOs Oppose the Move
Animal welfare groups have strongly objected to the directive. RT Sharma, president of the Pet Animal Welfare Society, which runs an ABC centre in Masoodpur, said the plan is not feasible.
“We cannot obey this order because we don’t have any quarantine area for aggressive dogs. Aggressive dogs aren’t only those who have rabies - they could be aggressive also because of a psychological reason, or anxiety. This needs a professional approach, beyond just picking them up and packing them in the shelter,” Sharma explained.
NGOs argue that such drives risk harming both the animals and the city’s long-term efforts at humane population control.