John Abraham writes letter to Chief Justice regarding Delhi dog ruling

John Abraham wrote to the Supreme Court Chief Justice to rethink their decision to move all stray dogs in Delhi to shelters immediately and humbly requested "a review and modification of this judgment" in favour of something more "lawful" and "humane."

John Abraham calls for a more "humane approach" to take care of the stray dog bites

John reminded that the new directive conflicts with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023. They focus on sterilising and vaccinating stray dogs to control their numbers and prevent the spread of rabies, rather than locking them right away.

"The ABC Rules prohibit the displacement of dogs, instead mandating their sterilisation, vaccination, and return to the very areas they inhabit. Where the ABC programme is implemented earnestly, it works," he said, giving the example of cities like Jaipur and Lucknow.

John stressed that this can be achieved by Delhi as well.

"During sterilisation, dogs are vaccinated against rabies, and sterilisation results in calmer animals, fewer fights and bites, as they have no puppies to protect. Because community dogs are territorial, they also deter unsterilised, unvaccinated dogs from entering their areas."

"Delhi has an estimated 10 lakh dogs. It is neither practical nor humane to shelter or relocate them all, and removal only opens the door for unfamiliar, unsterilised, and unvaccinated dogs to move in—leading to greater competition, territorial disputes, and public health risks.

"I respectfully request a review and modification of this judgment in favour of the lawful, humane, and effective ABC approach, which safeguards public health while honouring the constitutional values of compassion and coexistence, a stand the Supreme Court has consistently upheld since 2015," he wrote.

Supreme Court has directed the authorities of cities like Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad to move stray dogs to shelters to curb the grim situation of rabies spread. It has ordered authorities to begin work on a shelter for 5,000 to 6,000 dogs in the next six weeks.

Other actors like Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Zeenat Aman and Rupali Ganguly have also criticised the new SC order.

“In our traditions, dogs guard Bhairav Baba’s temple and are fed on Amavasya for blessings. They’ve grown up on our streets, guarding shops, waiting outside our doors, barking away thieves," said Rupali Ganguly on X while Sonakshi wrote how "soulless we have become as a society."

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