Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court was informed on Wednesday that 13 of the state’s 34 districts lack Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres, while data on stray dog sterilisation and vaccination has been furnished for only 17 districts.The high court has been hearing a suo motu PIL on the stray dog issue following directions from Supreme Court. All high courts have been asked to monitor and report on compliance with the apex court’s directives to tackle the stray dog menace in public places and institutional premises, including sterilisation and vaccination drives.As Gujarat HC is also required to submit a report, state govt, ABC centres, municipal corporations and other authorities have been furnishing details of measures taken to control the stray dog population.Highlighting the details mentioned in a state govt’s affidavit, amicus curiae in this case, senior counsel Megha Jani, pointed out the absence of ABC centres in 13 districts out of a total of 34 districts in the state. There are 12 districts where there is only one ABC centre, and there are proposals to have an additional centre in each of the districts. She asserted that having an ABC centre “is the first requirement to start with”.The amicus curiae also pointed out that the data regarding sterilisation and vaccination of dogs cover only 17 districts. The apex court has ordered that every district should have at least one ABC centre. On this issue, govt pleader GH Virk explained that state govt does not have the facility in every district, but there are bigger centres that cater to the requirements of the nearby districts. However, the efforts are underway to create facilities in every district.Advocate Jani also underscored the number of adoptions of dogs, which is only four, and the details pertained to Ahmedabad only. She also submitted that the timeline of actions is also required to be mentioned.The govt pleader enumerated the efforts to secure institutional premises from the stray dog menace: 79,150 institutions have been inspected, and a total of 754 stray dogs have been removed. He claimed that 7,130 institutional premises have been cleared of stray dogs. As many as 6,478 nodal officers have been appointed to monitor and deal with the issue.During the hearing, the bench of acting Chief Justice MR Pathak and Justice Nirzar Desai suggested that govt have a buffer stock of anti-rabies vaccine in every district place. After the hearing, the bench ordered, “Learned advocates appearing for the respective respondents may file necessary affidavits along with all the relevant documents on or before 3.11.2026.”
