Supreme Court stray dogs case: the first compliance reports go before the court on 17 Nov 2026
Every High Court must tell the Supreme Court what its state has done about stray dogs, also called community dogs. See what the court ordered, and where your state stands.
SMWP (C) 5/2025
13 days to go Hearing on the compliance reports:
The date is set in the judgment of (para 114). We check the Supreme Court cause list from 10 Nov and update this line.
What’s happening
One Supreme Court case, In Re: “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price” (Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5 of 2025), decides how India’s cities must handle stray dogs. Since every High Court runs its own case to check that its state complies. The first consolidated reports are due before .
- Delhi-NCR told to shelter stray dogs
- Release after sterilisation; case widened to all of India
- Dogs out of schools, hospitals, stations and highways
- Judgment; High Courts take over monitoring
- States’ first affidavits due before their High Courts
- Supreme Court hearing on the compliance reports
What the court ordered
| Date | Bench | What was ordered | Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan | The court took up the case on its own after a Times of India report from Delhi | Judgment of (2025 INSC 1018), para 1 | |
| Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan | Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad: pick up stray dogs, build shelters within 8 weeks (start with about 5,000 dogs), sterilise and vaccinate under the ABC Rules 2023, no release; dog-bite helpline within a week. Changed on | Order, 2025 INSC 977 | |
| Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria | Dogs are sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated and released to the same area; rabid, suspected rabid and aggressive dogs are not released; feeding spaces in every ward, no feeding on the street; a helpline in every municipality; adoption through the municipal body; the case extended to every state and union territory. Intervenors had to deposit Rs 25,000 (individuals) or Rs 2,00,000 (organisations) within 7 days (direction g) | Judgment, 2025 INSC 1018 | |
| Same three judges | Schools, colleges, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands and railway stations to be identified in 2 weeks and secured, preferably in 8 weeks; dogs found there go to a shelter after sterilisation and vaccination and are not released to the same place (para 25 E); every hospital keeps anti-rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin in stock; cattle off highways; AWBI to issue SOPs in 4 weeks (para 25 J) | Order, 2025 INSC 1357 | |
| Animal Welfare Board of India (not a court) | Standard Operating Procedures for institutional premises issued | Judgment of , para 77 | |
| Same three judges | All pleas to change or recall the order dismissed (para 76). At least one working ABC centre in every district. Euthanasia only for rabid, incurably ill or demonstrably dangerous dogs, after a vet’s assessment and within the PCA Act and the ABC Rules (direction H). Every High Court registers its own case to monitor compliance (A); contempt for non-compliance (D); state affidavits before the High Courts by (E); consolidated High Court reports every four months, the first at least a week before (G); listed on “for receiving the consolidated compliance reports and for further directions” (para 114) | Judgment, 2026 INSC 506 | |
| Animal Welfare Board of India | Circular asking every state and council for strict compliance with the orders, the SOPs and the ABC Rules | Circular | |
| Same three judges (expected) | Hearing on the compliance reports (para 114). Not yet on the cause list (published about a week before) | Judgment, para 114 |
Where your state stands
Each High Court was told to register a case called “In Re: Compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5 of 2025” and to send the Supreme Court a consolidated report before . This is what we found in public orders and press reports. Last checked: .
| State / UT | High Court and case | Latest public order, and what is due | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerala | Kerala High Court, Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Preeta A.K.; suo motu compliance case | : public opposition is no excuse for not building shelters; local bodies warned of contempt; shared shelters for 2–3 panchayats allowed; ABC-treated dogs from public premises must be released as the Supreme Court directed. Monthly reports from the High-Level Monitoring Committee since . Due: the state’s consolidated report to the Supreme Court by | LiveLaw, ; our news 29 Oct, 31 Oct, 1 Nov |
| Goa | Bombay High Court at Goa, Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar (registered before Justices Menezes and Hiten Venegavkar; 26 respondents; amicus Terence Sequeira) | : disciplinary action ordered against officials who kept missing deadlines; defaulting panchayats to comply with paras 4 and 5 of the order by , or their secretaries face proceedings; temporary shelters were due 3 Oct, then 26 Oct. Next: | Daijiworld, ; Prudent Media, 26 Oct; Navhind Times, 1 Aug; our news 14 Oct |
| Maharashtra | Bombay High Court, Suo Motu Writ Petition 2 of 2026, Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad | : state told to run the ABC programme aggressively; census, sterilisation and anti-rabies figures sought (1,50,594 dogs sterilised in urban bodies in six months). Due: updated chart by . Reports differ on the next hearing date. | Our news 14 Aug, 9 Oct; LiveLaw, 14 Aug |
| Tamil Nadu and Puducherry | Madras High Court, Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan; suo motu (case number reported as WP 23656 of 2026) | : “no visible change on the ground”; the state given a week to file its compliance report. No later public order found | Our news 22 Jun; LiveLaw, 21 Jul |
| Delhi | Delhi High Court, suo motu PIL registered (bench as reported: Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta) | : MCD and NDMC to hold a training camp for vets and dog-catchers and start sterilisation in four more wards; : a pilot ward-wise sterilisation camp. Next date not found | Our news 23 Jul, 3 Aug, 5 Oct |
| Rajasthan | Rajasthan High Court, suo motu since (Jodhpur), now monitoring the Supreme Court’s directions; bench as reported: Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Maneesh Sharma | : action-taken report sought from the state, as reported by DogExpress; : statewide compliance affidavit sought, listed | Our news 2 Jul; DogExpress, 28 Oct |
| Uttar Pradesh | Allahabad High Court, Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad; suo motu compliance case | : Lucknow and Prayagraj to audit dog-bite hotspots on the ground, compile three years of bite data, inspect 30 more public places; aggressive dogs removed humanely | Our news 22 Oct; LiveLaw |
| Gujarat | Gujarat High Court, Suo Motu v State of Gujarat, WPPIL 28 of 2026, Chief Justice’s bench | : 17 districts had no stray-cattle data; figures sought, reportedly by 30 Oct; 28 Oct: 13 districts have no ABC centre; : area-wise sterilisation, vaccination and geo-tagging suggested | Our news 27 Jul, 4 Aug, 22 Oct, 28 Oct |
| Madhya Pradesh | Madhya Pradesh High Court, Chief Justice Alok Yashwant Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain; suo motu PIL | : state reports more than 15,000 dogs sterilised and vaccinated in six months. Dainik Jagran English reported a review of the compliance report on . | Dainik Jagran English, |
| Chhattisgarh | Chhattisgarh High Court | : state affidavit reports 30,651 stray dogs sterilised. No later order found | Our news 22 Jul |
| Telangana | Telangana High Court | No order in a compliance case found. Earlier: , Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy (AASRA petition): dogs in institutional premises to shelters after sterilisation; : petition on the mass killing of dogs in villages, counter-affidavit sought; : state okays euthanasia of rabid dogs (press) | Our news 30 Apr, 10 Oct; Deccan Chronicle, . See also how to report cruelty in Telangana |
| Meghalaya | Meghalaya High Court | : details sought on the panel dealing with stray dogs, as reported | Our news 16 Oct |
| Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Ladakh, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur, the other UTs | — | No public order in a compliance case found (checked ). Every High Court was directed to register one | Judgment, direction A |
Know of an order we have missed? Send it to us with a link, and we add the row.
Four things every city must now have: feeding spaces in each ward, a helpline, a working ABC centre in the district, and dog-free school, hospital and station premises. Read what the ABC Rules 2023 say.
What you can do before 17 Nov
Check your city against the orders.
Does your ward have a marked feeding spot? Is there a helpline? Is there an ABC centre in your district? Those are the court’s own tests. What the ABC Rules 2023 say.
Report what is missing to the municipal body.
The order makes every municipal authority keep a helpline for violations; use it, and keep the complaint number. Caring for community dogs in your area.
If you feed dogs or were bitten.
Feeding is allowed at the ward’s feeding spaces, not on the street: feeding community dogs: good practice and if your RWA or society stops you. After a bite: dog bite and rabies vaccine.
In the news
-
TNIECampaigns and Civic ActionStray dog shelter: Kerala HC chides LSGs for poor compliance, warns of contempt
-
TOIAnimal Birth ControlLand availability issues: Kerala HC moots common stray dog shelters for civic body clusters
-
LiveLawCampaigns and Civic ActionPublic opposition can’t justify non compliance with SC’s stray dog directions: Kerala High Court warns local bodies
-
TOIAnimal Birth Control
Stray dog PIL: 13 Gujarat dists have no ABC centres
-
GujaratSamachar EnglishCattle and Gaushalas‘17 districts missing data’: Gujarat High Court slams government and NHAI over stray cattle and dog menace after fatal highway crash
-
Legal AffairAnimal Birth ControlAllahabad High Court orders ground level audit of dog bite hotspots, directs humane removal of aggressive stray dogs
Read the law and the record
The orders and the judgment, in full, in our Library, with the ABC Rules 2023 and the AWBI circular.
The Library also holds a letter petition template written against the order. The judgment of dismissed the applications to recall that order, so the template is a record of the objection, not a current action.
Sources
- Supreme Court of India: order of , 2025 INSC 977 (read )
- Supreme Court of India: judgment of , 2025 INSC 1018 (read )
- Supreme Court of India: order of , 2025 INSC 1357 (read )
- Supreme Court of India: judgment of , 2026 INSC 506, paras 76, 111 A–H, 113, 114 (read )
- Animal Welfare Board of India: circular of (our Library)
- High Court rows: the LiveLaw, Bar and Bench, Daijiworld, Prudent Media, Navhind Times, Dainik Jagran, DogExpress and Deccan Chronicle reports linked in each row, and our own News items (all read )
Last updated: . This page is general information, not legal advice.
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