“Calls come from gated colonies. Vans arrive, pick vaccinated dogs and they vanish. A week later, we see unfamiliar, frightened dogs dumped in a basti. Residents there did not ask for them. This is unlawful and cruel”: Animal protection volunteer
HYDERABAD: When the Supreme Court on Friday restored the Animal Birth Control (ABC) protocol and ruled that sterilised and vaccinated dogs must be released back into the same locality they were caught from, animal welfare workers in Hyderabad said the judgment merely reaffirmed what they had long demanded.
On the ground, however, they allege the practice of shifting dogs out of affluent colonies and abandoning them in poorer neighbourhoods continues unchecked.
The order overturned the August 11 directive calling for mass removal of strays into shelters and reaffirmed that relocation was unlawful except in cases of rabid or dangerously aggressive dogs, and extended the order nationwide. The ABC (Dogs) Rules, 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, mandate release “at the same place or locality” after sterilisation and vaccination, and prohibit mixing dogs from different areas.
“Calls come from gated colonies. Vans arrive, pick vaccinated dogs and they vanish. A week later, we see unfamiliar, frightened dogs dumped in a basti. Residents there did not ask for them. This is unlawful and cruel,” said Ravinder Nidadavolu, a volunteer with an animal protection group in Hyderabad.
GHMC officials insisted that they comply with the rules. A senior veterinary officer told this newspaper that teams were instructed to return dogs to the same spot, adding that “any deviation will invite action.”
Yet the bite case data points to the risks of displacement. Telangana reported over 1.1 lakh dog-bite cases in 2023, with nearly 35,000 in Hyderabad alone, according to the state health department. Public health experts warn that relocating dogs disrupts territorial balance, fuels fights, and heightens the risk of bites and rabies transmission.
Veterinarians also emphasise the psychological toll. “Dogs are territorial. If you uproot them and dump them in an unfamiliar area, they become stressed, reactive, and may fight with existing packs. Removing vaccinated residents also creates a vacuum where unsterilised dogs move in, reversing ABC progress,” explained veterinarian Sheela Kolli.
Residents across the city describe the fallout differently. “We woke up to a pack we had never seen before near our school. They were disoriented and aggressive for days,” said C. Varun, a Borabanda resident. But an apartment association member in upscale Kompally countered, “We only want our children safe. We expect the civic body to handle dogs responsibly, not shift the problem.”
Animal welfare groups are now pressing for independent monitoring of GHMC’s ABC programme, with capture and release geo-tagged and records made public. “The Court has made the law clear. The question is whether Hyderabad will enforce it, or whether bribery and pressure will keep dictating where dogs are dumped,” said activist and veterinarian Mallikarjun Reddy.
