Though the Supreme Court has vacillated on the issue of stray dogs in recent times, it has not ordered their killing. Yet, that is what has been happening across Telangana in recent weeks. In Kamareddy district, 244 dog carcasses were found; on the outskirts of Hyderabad, dozens of dogs were reportedly poisoned. This is fear translating into vigilante action.
Following the death of a child from rabies, the apex court had initiated suo motu proceedings and directed that strays be shifted from the streets to shelters. Later, it modified the ruling, allowing release of the dogs after sterilisation and vaccination as per the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. Feeding was restricted to designated zones. It further ordered that strays be removed from the premises of schools, universities, hospitals, bus depots, railway stations and other public places. The question the court is now considering is whether to make the states liable for failing to enforce the rules.
It is obvious that the states and related institutions have so far failed to implement the directives. But do civic bodies have the capacity to strictly follow them? There is neither the infrastructure, nor the funds and personnel. There also seems to be an absence of strong will for it among bureaucrats. Take Hyderabad. It has five animal birth control centres, none of them certified by the Animal Welfare Board. And now, dogs are being removed from ‘sensitive areas’ with no clear destination. When governance fails, people do what they can to save themselves. The legal framework asks for patience, monitoring and sustained investment. The administrative response, shaped by public anger, falls far shorter. In this gap, the poor animals are facing inhuman cruelty.
India has a garbage management problem that helps feed the strays, a broken ABC system refuses to scale up, a data problem that masks the reality and a funding vacuum that cripples long-term control. Add to this a governance culture that substitutes knee-jerk reaction for planning. These failures make no noise and bite no one immediately—which is why they are easier to ignore than the dogs. Hence the cycle continues. For any measure to be effective, the system must work as it is intended to. Unfortunately, at the moment, we have a policy without the practical tools to implement it.