Dog bite cases: Supreme Court warns states of heavy compensation

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will ask states to pay a "heavy compensation" for dog-bite incidents as it flagged its concern over the lack of implementation of norms on stray animals for the past five years. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria said that even dog lovers and feeders will be held "responsible" and "accountable" for dog-bite incidents.

"For every dog bite, death or injury caused to children or elderly, we are going to ask the state governments to pay heavy compensation, as they did not do anything on implementation of norms in the past five years. Also, responsibility and accountability will be fixed on those who are feeding these stray dogs. If you love these animals so much, then why don't you take them to your house. Why should these dogs loiter around, bite and scare people?" Justice Nath said.

Justice Mehta concurred with the views of Justice Nath and said, "Who should be held accountable when dogs attack a 9-year-old? The organisation that is feeding them? You want us to shut our eyes to the problem."

The top court was hearing several petitions seeking modification of its November 7, 2025 order directing the authorities to remove these stray animals from the institutional areas and roads. The top court is hearing a suo motu case, initiated on July 28 last year, over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.

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