New Delhi, Oct 12 The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking a direction to the Centre for framing appropriate guidelines for the management of feral, free-ranging and domestic dogs in wildlife and protected areas within a stipulated timeline.
The petition has flagged that free-ranging dogs (FRDs) and feral dogs pose a grave threat to native wildlife in India, including certain species classified under Schedule I to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, like snow leopard, chinkara, leopard cat, great Indian bustard and olive ridley turtle.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notices to the Centre, the National Board for Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Board of India on the plea, which has also sought the identification of such feral, free-ranging and domestic dogs invading wildlife habitats and protected forests through regular monitoring and geo-tagging of specimen.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing in the court for the petitioners, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and others, told the bench that there are attacks on endangered species like snow leopards in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh and great Indian bustards in Rajasthan.
The bench said it would examine the petition and posted the matter for hearing on November 17.
The plea filed through advocate Madhusmita Bora has said the respondents must frame and submit appropriate guidelines for the management of feral, free-ranging and domestic dogs in wildlife and protected areas before the court within a stipulated timeline.
It has also sought the declaration of Rules 11 and 3(ii) of Schedule II of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, as unconstitutional and to read down relevant rules of the said rules to restrict their applicability to areas not categorised as protected zones insofar as it is in violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioners, which are charitable trusts, said they had approached the court earlier as well, challenging the constitutional validity of Rules 11 and 3(ii) of Schedule II of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, as being violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, and flagged the escalating menace of feral and free-ranging dogs preying on critically-endangered wildlife species in protected areas across India and the government's inaction to prevent the same.
The petitioners said on April 2, 2025, the top court disposed of their earlier plea following an assurance from Attorney General R Venkataramani that appropriate guidelines will be formulated in consultation with all stakeholders.
"It is submitted that even after the expiry of 11 months from the date of the said order, the government has failed to frame, notify or implement any such guidelines for the management of feral dogs in wildlife habitats or ecologically-sensitive areas as per order dated April 2, 2025, passed by this court," the plea has said.
It has added that the threat posed by FRDs remains largely unaddressed by the current wildlife legislation in India and some of the endangered species that are under threat due to attacks by the canines are great Indian bustards, black-necked cranes, chinkaras, olive ridley turtles, blackbucks and snow leopards.
It has referred to a report of legal think-tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy titled Vidhi comments on Draft Animal Birth Control Rules 2022, which stated that FRDs are "one of the most dangerous threats" to native wildlife in India.
The petitioners have said they are renewing their prayer for the management of FRDs in wildlife and protected areas through the identification of such feral, free-ranging and domestic dogs attacking or hunting wildlife in protected areas and forests, and a scientific management to limit the population of such feral, free-ranging and domesticated dogs in protected areas by undertaking measures, such as sterilisation and immunisation.
"If the measure of capture and sterilisation is not practicable, removal or elimination of feral, free-ranging and domesticated dogs invading wildlife habitats and forests may be considered. It is once again prayed that the respondents may also develop an effective complaint-redressal mechanism against attacks and incidents against wildlife by such feral, free-ranging and domesticated dogs," the plea has said.
The petitioners have said the government's indecision and inability to frame the guidelines within the time frame suggested by the attorney general has resulted in unabated feral-dog attacks on critically-endangered species, such as snow leopards, black-necked cranes, Tibetan wild asses, wolves, foxes, Pallas's cat, Eurasian lynx, Tibetan gazelle, blue sheep, ibex, Himalayan marmots and bar-headed goose.
