NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court of India altered its mind on Friday about what to do with stray dogs. It told civic authorities to obey the Animal Birth Control (ABC) guidelines and let sterilized and vaccinated dogs go back to their homes. Animal welfare groups have praised the decision, which is considered as more humanitarian and realistic than the prior mandate to transport all strays to shelters. But for a city like Delhi, following this directive is really hard because it doesn’t have the right infrastructure or enough people to do it.
A recent study by media found that several of the capital’s 20 ABC centers are in a very bad state. On August 12, spot checks showed that facilities, most of which are run by NGOs, were having trouble because they didn’t have enough room, resources, or timely reimbursements from the government. Geeta Seshamani, the vice president of Friendicoes, an animal protection NGO, said that her organization’s three ABC units have been working “without reimbursement at all centers for the last six months.”
These results are in line with a report from April 2023 by advocates Shaalini Agrawal and Khushbu Sainani that listed a number of problems, such as not having enough veterinarians, keeping dogs in cages for a long time after they were spayed or neutered, and using inhumane catchers that can hurt the animals. Asher Jesudoss, an activist who helped start the Delhi Animal Welfare Board, stressed the necessity for “supporting infrastructure to match the need to sterilize these dogs.”
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is in charge of the program, is especially unprepared. The MCD’s veterinary department says that it is short roughly 43% of the positions it is allowed to fill. There are 277 open positions out of 649. There hasn’t been a director in the department for more than nine months, and half of the veterinary inspector jobs are open. There aren’t enough drivers and animal catchers to fill important operational jobs. A high-ranking MCD official, who asked not to be named, said that these gaps are making it very hard to do fieldwork.
Delhi’s bad waste management system is a big challenge, along with problems with labor and infrastructure. The Supreme Court’s recent decree bans feeding dogs on public streets and requires the development of authorized feeding zones. However, residents and experts say this is just a symbolic gesture until the city’s bigger sanitation issues are fixed. Atul Goyal, president of Urja, a group that represents Delhi’s resident welfare associations (RWAs), said that until garbage is properly taken care of, thousands of “dhalaos” (garbage dumps) and restaurant scraps will continue to feed strays, making designated feeding zones useless.
Animal welfare groups have also talked about how important it is for people to get involved. Shaurya Agarwal, an advocacy associate at PETA India, told people to “refuse to support breeders and pet stores” and instead adopt pets from shelters. He pointed out that city authorities have an even harder time reducing the stray dog population when the public doesn’t favor sterilization and adoption.