Guwahati: Animal welfare advocates, NGOs, and concerned citizens staged coordinated demonstrations across Assam on Friday to protest the Supreme Court’s recent directive on community dogs.
The protests, held in cities including Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, and Nalbari, drew a diverse crowd of teachers, students, lawyers, veterinarians, and animal caregivers.
The gatherings began with silent protests, followed by peaceful rallies where demonstrators held placards that read, “Protect. Vaccinate. Sterilise. Release. Coexist.”
Organizers urged the court to reconsider its suo motu order, which was issued on August 11, 2025. Protesters argued that relocating or displacing community dogs would harm both the animals and the local ecosystem.
“This ruling ignores decades of proven science on humane population management,” said Anita Das, coordinator of a Guwahati-based animal rights NGO.
Dr. Partha Baruah, a veterinarian from Dibrugarh, explained the ecological risk, stating, “You remove them, and the ecological balance is disturbed; new, unvaccinated dogs will move in.”
Protesters emphasized that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme is the most effective solution for rabies prevention, not the removal or culling of dogs.
“Killing or moving dogs will not stop rabies; only proper ABC and vaccination will,” said Rekha Pegu, a community feeder from Nagaon.
Participants rejected the term “strays,” describing the dogs as an integral part of neighborhood life. “They are part of our streets, our mornings, our festivals; we don’t abandon family,” remarked Babul Medhi, a Nalbari resident, who held a rescued puppy during the protest.
The demonstrations in Assam were part of a wider national mobilization by India’s animal welfare community, signaling growing resistance to measures that are perceived as harmful to urban wildlife and human-animal coexistence.