Bombay HC Urges Maharashtra To Intensify Sterilisation Of Stray Dogs
The direction came during the hearing of a suo motu petition initiated following a May 19, 2025: Reports
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to aggressively implement its Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme to curb the growing stray dog population, observing that halting population growth was key to addressing the wider crisis.
The direction came during the hearing of a suo motu petition initiated following a May 19, 2025, Supreme Court directive mandating High Court oversight of states’ stray dog management measures.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad emphasised that systematic sterilisation of adult dogs prevents reproduction and addresses the problem at its root.
“If you implement that ABC programme aggressively, there will be no growth of dogs (stray). Every dog which is sterilised through the ABC programme, there can be no procreation,” Justice Ghuge said.
The bench cited a successful sterilisation initiative at the High Court’s 57-acre Aurangabad campus as an example of how controlling reproduction could make subsequent management measures, including rabies control and regulated feeding, more manageable.
“Once that is vigorously implemented, there is no further growth of dogs and then you can tackle the remaining ones. Then you only have to ensure and take care that they do not become rabid. In the first place, you should stop the growth of the dogs. So that one major problem is resolved,” the bench observed.
Additional Government Pleader O.A. Chandurkar told the court on Friday that Maharashtra’s compliance roadmap included implementation of the ABC programme. Following Mr Chandurkar’s submission, the court sought further updates on the government’s progress and posted the matter for hearing on September 11.
