Over the past decade, street dogs have moved from being neighbourhood sentinels to legal battlegrounds, caught between compassion and commotion. Have you ever heard of any constitutional court in the world getting involved with issues relating to dogs? The Indian Supreme Court is an exception. Despite the pendency of several lakhs of cases, some very serious, dogs are getting special attention.AdvertisementSome time ago, the Supreme Court picked up a case of dogs and that too, suo motu, on the basis of an unverified newspaper report. Furthermore, without hearing the lawyers on the other side, a basic requirement, the Court issued a direction that all street dogs should be picked up and confined in pounds. That would require an expenditure of thousands of crores, and that too in a few months, making it impossible to execute. Fortunately, the then Chief Justice of India constituted a new bench that is currently seized of the matter.Yet another constitutional issue is that of the separation of powers, a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, laid down by the Court itself. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Animal Welfare Board (AWB) is the executive authority to issue guidelines regarding the management of animals, including dogs. It seems that the appropriate course would be for the Supreme Court, instead of issuing the guidelines itself, to direct the AWB to revise its existing ones, harmonising human needs on the one hand and compassion — one of the fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution, which is binding on all — on the other. In our view, the Supreme Court may kindly consider not descending to act as the Animal Welfare Board.The tragedy of India’s “dog problem” isn’t a lack of law. It’s a failure to apply it. The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, first notified under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and updated in 2023, already lay down a clear, evidence-based national protocol: Capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release (CSVR). They embody the scientific consensus of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) that sterilisation and vaccination are the only sustainable ways to control the dog population and prevent rabies. Removal or culling, in contrast, simply opens ecological “vacuum zones”, inviting unsterilised dogs from surrounding areas to move in, restarting the cycle of fear and anger.AdvertisementThere is no nation on earth that has resolved street-dog management through detention. There are, however, nations that have done it through science, cooperation, and respect for both people and animals. France offers one such model. By the 1980s, French cities were struggling with uncontrolled dog populations. The government implemented a combination of mandatory registration, sterilisation incentives, strict enforcement of pet abandonment laws, and robust waste management — all coordinated by the municipalities, not the courts. Public education campaigns shifted the narrative from nuisance to responsibility. Within a decade, stray populations plummeted without mass removal or cruelty.The Netherlands went further, achieving what few thought was possible: It became the first country in the world with zero stray dogs, without killing a single one. How? Through a nationally implemented CSVR programme, the same model India already enshrines in law. The Dutch government backed sterilisation drives with funding, education, and strict penalties for abandonment, while also investing in adoption, identification, and enforcement of pet-keeping norms. It wasn’t the judiciary but the municipal and health authorities, acting in concert with civil society, that delivered this transformation. In India, too, many cities, by using the ABC programme, have ensured not only stabilisation but also a decline in the dog population. These examples will dispel the impression that the persons arguing for a different approach are doing so not for rational but for sentimental reasons. Indeed, the logic is based on successful scientific achievements.most readNow, about the ground realities as I understand them, having partly worked in the field of animal welfare. For about 30 years, I was connected with a dog pound run by the Jodhpur municipality, where most of the dogs died within a few weeks or months for want of food on most days and non-existent medical facilities. It was a veritable hell for them. There were doubts about the use of the municipal budget for this purpose. Further, the sanctioned municipal staff were nowhere to be seen. A group of friends provided some limited support. The fact is that most of the present pounds elsewhere or in the future may have these problems. Thus, the impression that pounds are the places to save picked-up dogs is not at all borne out by facts. They are a death warrant.The dogs that bite are generally those that are hungry, have been disturbed in their sexual activity or pelted with stones. If they are fed and neutered, they are not only non-aggressive but also mostly sleeping. Only a microscopic minority of them are vicious, and surely, they can be picked up or dealt with differently. It is also a fact that poor- and lower-middle-class people love and feed the dogs living in slums and other areas. In many colonies, dogs are unpaid guards against thieves. The problem is basically with the elites. In schools, children share a part of their snacks with the dogs, a way of acquiring compassion. For psychologists, dogs are occasionally used for therapy. Dogs are man’s best friend. They must be dealt with rationally and humanely, and not with impractical solutions, or at times, with phobias.The writer is former chairman, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI)