Why India Could Learn Stray Dog Management from Armenia

Three-Judge Bench Reserves Order on Mass Removal of Dogs from Delhi

August 14, 2025

When the Supreme Court of India is considering whether all stray dogs should be removed from Delhi-NCR because some believe they are dangerous for children, there is a country where the picture is very different. In Armenia’s capital Yerevan, street dogs are known for their calm temperaments and easy rapport with people, as a result of a deliberate management policy and a social environment that treats dogs as part of the public space rather than a threat to be eliminated.

Dogs in Armenia

Many tourists return from Yerevan with stories of a particular dog who walked beside them down a street or waited patiently at a crossing as if trained. In this city, municipal teams capture dogs, sterilise them to prevent breeding, vaccinate them against rabies and other diseases, tag them for easy identification, and return them to the exact place they were found.

From a canine behaviour standpoint, this is the right policy. Dogs are territorial, and this is their survival instincts drive them to protect the areas where they find food, shelter and familiar pack members. For the same reason, they thrive on familiarity, knowing the smells, the people and the rhythms of their home territory. When a stranger enters or when someone behaves unusually, arrives at odd hours, or passes through on a bicycle or motorbike, the change in sound, movement or scent can trigger alarm barking. This is their way of signalling potential danger to their group and asserting ownership of the space, and in most cases it does not involve biting.

Being returned to their own environment after treatment allows them to settle back into established routines and keeps their social group intact. Stable groups reduce the impulse to fight for dominance or resources, and that stability translates into more predictable, relaxed behaviour around humans.

Visitors to Yerevan often notice dogs that seem to “belong” to a particular square or street. They may approach passers-by with loose tails and soft eyes, lie near outdoor cafés without scavenging, or accompany pedestrians for a block before returning to their patch.

Residents feed them regularly, not out of charity alone but as part of an unspoken pact: the dogs are vaccinated and calm, and the people provide enough food to keep them healthy. This reciprocal relationship reinforces the dogs’ sense that humans are safe and worth approaching without fear or aggression.

Yerevan manages its street dogs through a coordinated municipal programme run by the Animal Care Center. This facility is responsible for the city’s capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release system. Teams go into neighbourhoods to catch dogs using humane methods, transport them to the centre for sterilisation and vaccination, mark them with an ear tag for identification and then return them to the exact location where they were found. The centre also treats sick or injured dogs, provides temporary shelter and works with adoption networks for animals that can be rehomed.

Veterinarians at the Yerevan Animal Care Center believe that the way a dog is handled during capture and surgery has lasting effects. Dogs that experience gentle handling and minimal restraint are more likely to approach a human again without panic. Once sterilised and vaccinated, their physical comfort improves: there are no mating drives that trigger roaming or fighting, no untreated injuries that make them irritable, and no illnesses that sap their energy. A healthy dog with secure access to food and a stable social group is far less likely to react aggressively to a child’s sudden movement or an unfamiliar visitor.

Street dogs that are integrated into city life can act as an informal form of pest control, deterring rodents and even alerting people to strangers at night. In Yerevan, they also serve a social role. For some residents, feeding and caring for a local dog is a daily act of kindness that builds community bonds. For tourists, meeting these dogs often becomes a memorable part of their trip.

India has no shortage of skilled veterinarians, committed volunteers or communities that already care for street dogs. What it lacks is a coordinated citywide system that links veterinary treatment with territory stability and public cooperation.

Delhi could lead the way for India by piloting a capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release programme that returns dogs to their areas, supports them with community feeding and tracks their health. In time, the city’s dogs could be known less for fear and more for the quiet companionship that Yerevan’s strays offer every day.

The Delhi Case

On August 14, a three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria heard arguments challenging the Aug. 11 order that directed the immediate removal of all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi NCR to permanent shelter homes. The bench reserved its decision on whether those directions should be stayed, as reported by LiveLaw.

The Aug. 11 directions were issued by a two-judge bench, requiring the Government of NCT Delhi, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council to create shelter space for at least 5,000 dogs within eight weeks, capture strays from all parts of the city and prevent the release of any captured dog back into its locality.

The Aug. 11 order followed the court’s suo motu cognisance of a news report about children being attacked by stray dogs in Delhi. It instructed that both sterilised and unsterilised dogs be kept in the shelters, which were to be staffed and monitored by CCTV. It also required the creation of a helpline to report dog bites, with any implicated animal to be caught within four hours, sterilised, vaccinated and kept permanently in a shelter. The stated aim was to make city streets free of strays so that children could move without fear of attack or rabies infection.

On Aug. 14, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that separating stray dogs from public spaces was essential for public safety, citing national figures showing 3.7 million (37 lakh) dog bites each year, averaging about 10,000 a day, and 20,000 annual rabies deaths. He said sterilisation does not prevent rabies and suggested that even immunised dogs could cause severe injury to children.

Senior advocates noted that the Aug. 11 order conflicts with the Animal Birth Control Rules and that earlier Supreme Court rulings have prohibited mass removal of dogs. They said Delhi’s shelters can house only a small fraction of the estimated one million strays and warned that overcrowding could lead to disease outbreaks and aggression among confined animals. They added that at least six previous orders requiring strict adherence to the ABC Rules had been ignored, that the Aug. 11 directions relied on anecdotal statements rather than verified evidence, and that sustained sterilisation with proper feeding can bring down populations over time.

It is hoped that before the final verdict, policymakers in Delhi and across India will examine the shortcomings in their own management systems and address them, instead of placing the blame solely on the dogs.

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