Top News

Animal health experts, welfare organisations, and public health advocates have warned that the Supreme Court’s recent directive to relocate all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters could have catastrophic consequences. They argue that removing vaccinated and sterilised street dogs from their territories will dismantle a natural barrier against rabies and trigger what is known as the “Vacuum Effect” — a phenomenon recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The apex court, on Monday, directed the Delhi government, along with civic bodies in Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad to pick up all stray dogs from localities over the next eight weeks and house them in shelters equipped with adequate staff to sterilise, vaccinate and care for them. The order came during a suo motu hearing on stray dog bites and rabies cases in the national capital.

A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that the situation in Delhi was “extremely grim” and cautioned that strict action, including contempt proceedings, could be taken against anyone obstructing the relocation drive.

The ‘Vacuum Effect’: How Removal Can Make Problems Worse

The vacuum effect refers to a well-established phenomenon observed in animal population control—when animals are removed from a particular area, their absence creates a territorial void that quickly attracts new ones. This often leads to the population returning to its original numbers, sometimes even increasing as the habitat remains resource-rich.

In the NCR’s case, when street dogs are removed from an area, new unvaccinated and unsterilised dogs may quickly move in to claim the vacated space. This replacement population is often more susceptible to disease and more likely to bite.

Dr Tanaya, in a widely shared post, explained, “I’m not saying this as a dog lover, but as a human doctor. Instead of protecting humans from rabies, removing vaccinated dogs will remove the shield that is keeping us safe. Once that shield is gone, the virus will spread faster than we can stop it. And this is not my opinion, but it’s what decades of public health data tells us.”

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Dr. Tanaya | Doctor, Author, Changemaker (@dr_cuterus)

She compared vaccinated street dogs to “invisible guards” against rabies, similar to how vaccinated people slowed COVID-19 transmission. Removing them, she warned, is like “pulling out the firebreak during a forest fire — the flames, or in this case the virus, will spread unchecked.”

“The first rule of disease control: never remove your front-line defenders in the middle of a fight. Vaccinated street dogs are our rabies bodyguards. Take them away, and you’re removing one of the barriers holding the disease back,” Dr Tanaya stressed.

Why Removal May Not Work: Disease Migration, Higher Bite Incidents, Overloaded Shelters

Animal welfare groups and public policy experts argue that the forced removal or mass sheltering of dogs—without addressing root causes like food sources or lack of sterilisation—merely shifts the problem elsewhere. As FIAPO (Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations) points out, “Relocation disrupts existing vaccination coverage, breaks up stable, disease-protected dog populations, and triggers the ‘vacuum effect’ — where new, unvaccinated dogs quickly move in.”  

Likewise, Dr Mini Aravindan of PETA India has warned that displacing these community dogs—many of whom are already vaccinated or sterilised—can actually undermine rabies control efforts and further endanger both dogs and humans.

Animal welfare organisations cite multiple risks from large-scale relocation — from increased territorial fights among dogs dumped in unfamiliar areas to the spread of diseases such as distemper, parvo, mange, and leptospirosis. “Scared dogs bite more,” Dr Tanaya cautioned, adding that mass capture and confinement increase stress and aggression, potentially leading to a spike in hospital visits for rabies shots.

The WHO advises sterilise-vaccinate-release (SVR) as the most effective, humane, and cost-efficient approach to rabies control. “The proposed plan will burn crores of taxpayer money on catching, sheltering, and feeding dogs, without solving the rabies problem. In fact, it destroys the immunity we’ve already built,” Dr Tanaya said.

The Risks of Stray Dogs' Mass Removal

Experts highlight several critical drawbacks to enforcing large-scale removal policies:

• Public Health Hazards: Shelters may become overcrowded and unsanitary, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks among confined animals.
• Strain on Resources: According to former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, the cost of implementing such removal operations in Delhi-NCR at around ₹15,000 crore—money that may not be practically available. The lack of massive infrastructure required to execute the task, along with trained staff and mandatory CCTV coverage, also poses a challenge, especially under the current deadline of eight weeks by the apex court.
• Ineffectiveness: Without sustained vaccination and sterilisation, animal populations rebound. Removing dogs without complementary action fails to produce lasting population control.

In contrast, the Animal Birth Control (ABC) or Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) approach emphasises capturing stray dogs, sterilising and vaccinating them, and then returning them to their territory. This method preserves the local population without allowing new, potentially unvaccinated animals to move in, reducing aggression and rabies risk over time.

Previously, Goa’s Mission Rabies campaign achieved significant reductions in human rabies cases by vaccinating and sterilising at least 70% of street dogs—aligning with global herd immunity thresholds. In 2021, Goa became the first Indian state to be declared a "Rabies Controlled Area".

Mass Vaccination, Sterilisation: A Proposed Plan

Animal welfare group Each One Feed One has proposed a rapid vaccination plan that, they say, could protect all 10 lakh street dogs in Delhi within two months. The plan involves 200 mobile units, each vaccinating 100 dogs daily — achieving 20,000 vaccinations per day.

“REALISTIC & EFFICIENTLY: All dogs vaccinated in 50–60 days. They don’t need more time; they need political will,” the group stated. They suggest leveraging Delhi’s 250 municipal wards, local feeder networks, and NGO partnerships to run ward-wise campaigns, similar to the city’s COVID-19 drives.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Each One Feed One (@eachonefeedone_dog_charity)

Activists insist that this is not just about animal welfare but about safeguarding human health. “Every rabies death is not a dog’s fault. It is a public health failure,” Each One Feed One noted. They urged the Delhi government to prioritise sterilisation and vaccination over relocation, warning that without swift corrective action, both people and animals will pay the price.

Animal Welfare Groups Point To Lack Of Infrastructure

Animal welfare groups and dog rescue operators in Noida have raised strong objections to the Supreme Court’s directive to relocate stray dogs across the Delhi-NCR region, warning that the move could prove deadly for the animals and counterproductive to rabies control efforts.

Animal rights campaigners argued that the mass removal of stray dogs would require massive infrastructure and could expose the animals to violence and neglect.

Anuradha Mishra, who runs the Hope and Speechless Souls dog shelter in Noida, told PTI, “It is not a practical step to remove lakhs of street dogs from roads within a short time period. Secondly, there are no shelter homes where they can be kept and given food or medicine when they get sick.” She expressed fears that once picked up, the animals could be “dumped in an empty land” without access to food, water or shelter, forcing them to fight and kill each other.

Sanjay Mahapatra, founder of House of Stray, echoed her concerns, noting the shortage of veterinary doctors, medicines, manpower and infrastructure to accommodate the estimated 1.5 lakh stray dogs in Noida.

Maneka Gandhi Calls SC Order ‘Impractical’, Says It Could Cost Exchequer Over Rs 15,000 Crore

On Monday, animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi strongly criticised the Supreme Court’s recent directive to relocate all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters. Gandhi described the order as “impractical, financially unviable and potentially harmful to the region’s ecological balance”.

According to PTI, Gandhi questioned the feasibility of the order, stating that Delhi has “around three lakh dogs”. She estimated the cost of creating 3,000 dog pounds with necessary facilities such as drainage, water and sheds would be around “Rs 15,000 crore”. She added, “Does Delhi have Rs 15,000 crore for this?” Furthermore, she estimated that feeding the impounded dogs would cost “another Rs 5 crore a week,” which she believes could lead to public backlash.

She warned of “unintended consequences” and the “vacuum effect,” where removing strays from Delhi would lead to an influx of dogs from neighbouring cities like Ghaziabad and Faridabad. “Within 48 hours, three lakh dogs will come from Ghaziabad, Faridabad, because there’s food in Delhi,” she said.

She also cautioned of other ecological issues, stating, “once you remove the dogs, monkeys will come on the ground… In Paris in the 1880s, when they removed dogs and cats, the city was overrun with rats,” and described dogs as “rodent control animals”. She also warned that the order could lead to a “pitched battle with feeders in every street” and asked, “Why are we destabilising Delhi?”

The BJP leader proposed stricter enforcement of sterilisation, anti-rabies and distemper vaccinations, and a ban on relocating dogs. She recommended that Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres should operate within designated zones, be run by entities recognised by the Animal Welfare Board, and be monitored by local resident committees. Gandhi also highlighted the role of pet dogs in biting incidents, claiming that “70 per cent of bites are from pet dogs and 30 per cent from street dogs”.

She concluded that the government was “extremely serious” about her 14-point plan and that “within two years, we could have fewer dogs, no biting, and a happy coexistence between humans and animals”. She said the new judgment “derails everything”.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has committed to implementing the court’s order. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta acknowledged that the stray dog problem has reached a “gigantic proportion” and assured a policy to implement the order “in a planned manner”. Delhi Development Minister Kapil Mishra expressed confidence that the move would “free the city from the fear of rabies and stray animals”.

However, simply removing stray dogs—without sustained sterilisation, vaccination, or habitat management—risks failing both humans and dogs. The vacuum effect projects that any short-term gains are temporary and potentially counterproductive. Humane, science-backed strategies like ABC/TNR offer a far more effective and ethical path forward.

(With Agency Inputs)