Renowned animal activist Maneka Gandhi has laid out strong criticism of the judge especially Justice J. B. Pardiwala who directed removal of stray dogs from streets on 11th August. The other judge in the bench was Justice R. Mahadevan.

Justice J. B. Pardiwala took a sue moto cognizance of the street dogs problem. Maneka Gandhi didn’t minced her words and opined during an interiview that the judge didn’t considered perspectives of all stakeholders, didn’t took scientific understanding into consideration and ordered the removal of stray dogs which not only in inhumane but will create bigger problems.

“I knew this would happen. When a judge takes up a suo motu case, is it to spare someone? No, right? He had already made up his mind and he was very angry… both judges were angry. Now, about the other judge I don’t know, but Hon’ble Justice Pardiwala was very angry and had been after this for a long time… he refused to listen to anyone.

We expect that a judge is like God. If they give a decision, it should be well thought-out, based on scientific evidence, and after listening to all sides. But here, they neither listened to anyone, nor looked at the scientific evidence, nor wanted to look at it, nor did anything — just said ‘remove them, remove them’.

Any decision taken without scientific evidence is dangerous for everyone.

There was a newspaper clipping which said that a girl had been bitten by dogs and then died. Unfortunately, the truth is that this newspaper clipping was false… our judge neither looked ahead nor behind, nor into anything — just took that as the basis, came in anger, and gave the order.”
— Maneka Gandhi in conversation with Jansatta

Are people right in dog protests?

Ever since the verdict has come from the judge, the country seems divided into two groups. The one is the animal lover, or specifically to be said, the dog lover, while the other group is strongly protesting, possibly because they or their family member have suffered from dog bites or have seen their menace.

Many dog lovers can be seen categorically denying the threat that the stray dogs are posing on the children, old age people and the women who are walking on the streets, especially at late nights or especially when there is no one else on the street.

The fact of the matter is that the threat of street dogs is real and we have seen many incidences in recent years of not only dog bites but also where streets dogs have become so aggressive that they have mauled people to death.

Very recently, if you must have read that a month ago, a news, a kabaddi player from India died from rabies because of the bite which he got from the puppy while rescuing it. Ever since that news emerged, people have become even more against the street dogs.

To say that the problem of dog biting in India is not worth considering would not be correct. We have seen instances where street dogs pouncing on them. But has anyone given a thought as what exactly could be the root cause of their attack?

Attack on Provocation

In my personal experience, I have observed that not only children but even many adults sometimes tease dogs, and at times even mistreat them under the guise of curiosity and playfulness. Why do people think that such actions will not cause pain and create negative experiences in the minds of these sensitive animals which may eventually turn into a dog bite?

There are multiple studies in India which highlights the above problem. According to a 2017 report published in PMC NCBI, older children and elderly are taken into account for teasing and abusing the street dogs which could result in dog biting. But what is surprising is that the majority of attacks are done by pet animals.

Reality of Animal Shelters?

India’s dog shelters including in Delhi NCR face overwhelming demand, insufficient funding, and systemic infrastructure issues. Many struggle to meet basic care needs.

While the judge has said in its statement that stray dogs need to be moved to the shelters, but if we look at the reality of the animal dog shelters in India, we would see that they are not in very good condition and more often than not the lives of the stray dogs there are in jeopardy. Many are kept in cramped places, the sanitation is far from ideal, the hygiene, the food, and the freeness of the stray dog is restricted to a very great extent. So even if the stray dogs are removed to shelter, could it mean that we are endangering their lives significantly? The answer would be an absolute yes.

After massive public protests against the 11th August dated order, the matter has been transferred to a new 3 judge bench and will be heard on 14th August 2025.

The Solution?

Stray Dogs are not the problem in India alone. Many countries like Turkey, Romania and Thailand have had this problem but they adopted strategies which has nearly solved the stray dog problems.

Provisions like Widespread sterilization, Mass vaccination, Community tolerance and feeding, Humane laws, Consistent municipal involvement are already there in existing laws for animal treatments.