The Supreme Court on Friday said that the previous order to prohibit the release of vaccinated and treated stray dogs seemed “too harsh”. The SC modified its August 11 order, which had directed the rounding up of all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) and prohibited their release from dog shelters. 

The court allowed the release of stray dogs back to the same area after sterilisation and immunisation.

“Thus, the direction given in the order dated 11th August, 2025, prohibiting the release of the treated and vaccinated dogs seems to be too harsh, in our opinion,” according to LiveLaw, a three-judge bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, and Justice NV Anjaria said.

Also Read: Verdict On Stray Dogs: SC Orders Release Of Non-Aggressive Strays, Confinement Of Dangerous Ones

SC Stray Dogs Order

A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria ruled that stray dogs must be released after sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour.

The apex court said that infected stray dogs shall be sterilised and immunised, but under no circumstances shall they be released back, and as far as possible, they shall be kept in separate shelters or pounds after sterilisation and immunisation.

“The dogs that are picked up shall be sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated, and released back to the same area from where they were picked up,” it said while modifying the August 11 order, which directed that stray dogs shall not be released.

Public Feeding Of Stray Dogs

The Supreme Court bench also restricted public feeding of stray dogs and directed the MCD to create dedicated feeding spaces in each municipal ward.

“Under no condition shall the feeding of stray dogs on the streets be permitted. Dedicated feeding spaces for stray dogs are to be created. There have been instances due to such feeding instances,” as per ANI, the bench noted.

The top court further ordered that persons found feeding the dogs in contravention of its direction shall be liable to be proceeded with under the relevant framework.

SC On Stray Dogs Adoption

The Supreme Court also stated that animal lovers shall be free to move an application to the concerned municipal authorities for the adoption of street dogs, upon which the identified selected dogs shall be tagged and given to the person and it shall be the responsibility of the individual to ensure that the adopted dogs do not return to the streets.

It further ordered that each individual dog lover and each NGO who have approached the court must deposit a sum of Rs. 25,000 and Rs 2 lakhs, respectively, with the SC, failing which they shall not be allowed to appear in the matter any further.

According to ANI, the SC bench said that the deposited amount shall be utilised for the creation of infrastructure and facilities for the stray dogs.

The court on Friday also expanded the scope of the proceedings on the menace of stray dogs and impleaded all states and Union Territories as parties to the case.

SC’s Previous Order

The three-judge bench order came on pleas seeking a stay of its August 11 order of a two-judge bench to remove all stray dogs from the localities in the Delhi-NCR region and put them in shelter homes.

On August 11, the top court had ordered that all localities in Delhi and the NCR should be made free of stray dogs and there should not be any compromise. It had further directed that no captured animal will be released back.

(with ANI inputs)