‘What is aggressive?’: Maneka Gandhi questions SC’s stray dog ruling gap | WATCH

New Delhi: BJP leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has welcomed the Supreme Court’s recent order on the treatment of stray dogs, calling it a “scientific and balanced judgment.” However, she also raised a key concern: the court has not clearly defined what constitutes an “aggressive” dog, which could leave room for confusion and misuse during implementation.

“I am very happy with this scientific judgement. Relocation and fear are the only reasons for dogs biting. There is no question of releasing dogs infected with Rabies,” Gandhi said, reacting to the Supreme Court’s Friday verdict that reversed an earlier order prohibiting the release of stray dogs from shelters in Delhi-NCR.

She pointed out that while the Court made it clear that aggressive or rabies-infected dogs should not be released, it did not define what makes a dog “aggressive.”

“The court has not defined what an aggressive dog is. This needs to be defined,” she warned.

The Supreme Court on Friday modified its August 11 order, which had directed municipal authorities in Delhi-NCR to round up stray dogs and keep them in shelters indefinitely. A special three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath ruled that stray dogs that are sterilised and vaccinated can be released back into their original localities.

Maneka Gandhi also endorsed the court’s directive to ban street feeding of stray dogs and instead establish designated feeding zones.

“It is absolutely right (order to create designated feeding areas). They (civic authority) also have to put up signboards for such designated areas,” she said.

She revealed that the Union government has, for the first time in 25 years, officially allocated ₹2,500 crore for an Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, as stated in Parliament.

As per the order, the municipal corporations will have to set up proper ABC (Animal Birth Control) centres. For the first time in 25 years, the government stated in Parliament that it is allocating Rs 2,500 crores for this program,” she added.

Nationwide implementation

The Supreme Court has expanded the scope of the case beyond Delhi-NCR, directing that its ruling apply across all states and Union Territories. The Court also transferred all related petitions pending in various High Courts to itself for unified adjudication.

The matter, which began suo motu after a media report highlighted a rise in dog bite-related rabies cases, particularly involving children, will be heard again in eight weeks.