The court affirmed the fundamental right to safety, emphasizing urgent measures against the stray dog menace, declaring existing regulations inadequate and mandating immediate action for public safety.

ORDER

1. We heard Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, the learned Amicus appointed by this Court and Mr. Tushar Mehta, the learned Solicitor General appearing for the National Capital Region (NCR).

2. The learned amicus has provided us with some very important information.

He assisted us today to the best of his ability to enable us to proceed further in the matter. The learned Solicitor General also assisted us very ably and submitted that stern action needs to be taken to combat the situation. He further submitted that the Government of NCT of Delhi and all other authorities of the National Capital Region (NCR) shall make all possible endeavours to ensure that the menace of dog bites is taken care of at the earliest and appropriate action in the right direction is also taken at the earliest.

3. What we have been able to gather after hearing both the learned counsel is that the situation is extremely grim. Immediate steps need be taken to take care of the menace of dog bites leading to rabies.

4. In the course of the hearing today, the learned Amicus furnished us with some information. The same reads thus: -

“NOTE FOR HEARING ON 11th AUGUST, 2025

1. On the website of Press Information Bureau, data of number of dog bites for the years 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 [January] have been published. In the year 2024, there were 37,15,713 reported dog bites in the country. In Delhi alone, there were 25,201 dog bites. In the month of January, 2025, in the city of Delhi, the number of dog bites were 3196. The cases of dog bites have increased over the last 3 years as per the table below. If figures of January, 2025 are any indication, the cases of dog bites are increased by 50%.

Dog Bite cases reported by States/UTs at IDSP [from 2022-2025]

2022 2023 2024 2025

Delhi 6,691 17,874 25,210 3,196

India 21,89,909 30,52,521 37,15,713 4,29,664

2. Cases of dog bites are increasing because of the ever increasing population of stray dogs in our country. Dog bites causes immense pain and suffering to humans, especially to children, elderly and disabled persons. One has to thereafter undergo a very rigorous and timely process of taking multiple injections. If a person is not aware of the medical treatment or if the injections are not genuine, it would result in a very painful death. Sometimes, the person may not get necessary treatment in timely manner. The disease becomes incurable after 24 hours and results in a certain death. In a number of cases, stray dogs have attacked children, elderly persons and even adults, which have resulted in painful death to the victims at the spot [or soon thereafter]. 3. Stray dogs are also a cause of large number of road accidents, which cause injuries/ deaths of road users. Even if a person may not die of a dog bite, due to evasive action taken by him, he may fall down or hit another vehicle, resulting in death/injury.

4. Hence, the presence of stray dogs on our streets/ public places like airports, railway stations is a direct infringement of our Fundamental Rights under Articles 19(1)(d) & 21 of the Constitution of India. There cannot be any quarrel with the proposition that our streets/ public places should be free from stray dogs.

5. The Government of India’s response to remedy this infringement of our Fundamental Rights is manifested in Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules 2001, and recently [after repeal of the 2001 Rules] in the Animal Birth Control Rules , 2023 [2023 Rules]. The said R