The Supreme Court’s new order sounds like a solution. But nature doesn’t like a vacuum.
The dogs who sleep on the railway platform or roam near the college canteens must be familiar to you, They don’t really seem to bother anyone. The Supreme Court Recent order states, they must go: permanently removed from campuses, schools, railway stations, hospitals and other institutional areas, shifted to shelters and must never return. The priority is safety but the ecological consequences may be the opposite.
The vacuum effect
The Vacuum Effect, in wildlife biodiversity, is a phenomenon that occurs when a stable animal
population from a territory is removed, leaving the place open. In order to take advantage of the
same food sources and same space, new individuals, generally more aggressive and younger,
move in. This trend is directly applicable to street dogs and is well documented across species. [1,3]
The dogs residing outside campuses or near busy stations are not random street dogs. They are a
settled pack, vaccinated under the ABC programme, adjusted with the locals. Above all these,
they prevent other dogs from entering the territory. This aggressive behavior maintains
biological barriers. When the pack is removed the buffer vanishes along with it. [2]
You don’t get an empty territory, you get a more competed one.
Unvaccinated, unsterilized and anxious of entering unfamiliar environments, dogs from other territories move in next who are more likely to bite. Research from Jaipur and Jodhpur confirms that vaccination and sterilization in situ, instead of removal actually reduces dog bite and rabies cases. [2, 3, 4]
What the order misses
A campus acts as a micro-ecosystem. It has a regular human routine, stable food sources and a dog population that has adapted and evolved over time to suit themselves in a specific environment. The ecological system is reset to zero by the recent court’s verdict, but the gap still exists. It is once again overflowing with nature but with the dogs that have not yet adapted to the surroundings.[1, 5]
The decision calls for the installation of the dog shelters, which indeed is an improvement. Still it is not best for the public health to fill shelters with stable, vaccinated dogs while substituting them with the young and unvaccinated ones. Ecological study of impact is required before implementing any such thing, this includes examining whether packs are stable, how to maintain ABC protection in the designated buffer zones and population pressure of the area.
A boundary has been drawn by the court, but Nature doesn’t really care about the boundaries.
Related Articles
● Geo.tv. (2017, March 27). Two stray dogs help chase down criminal in India.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/135714-Two-stray-dogs-help-chase-down-criminal-in-India — Two community dogs in Bengaluru bit a man who had just stabbed a colleague, preventing him from fleeing until the public and police arrived. Geo News
● Gulf News. (2019, January). Stray dog saves life of Indian doctor who saved her.
https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/world%2Fasia%2Findia%2Fstray-dog-saves-life-of-indian-docto r-who-saved-her-1.61662348 — Brownie, a stray dog in Pune cared for over 16 years, alerted a neighbour when her caretaker, Dr Ramesh Sancheti, collapsed inside his home from a cardiac arrest — likely saving his life. gulfnews
● Inquirer News. (2019, July 24). Stray dogs save newborn baby girl dumped in town drain.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145880/stray-dogs-save-newborn-baby-girl-dumped-in-town-drain — Stray dogs in Haryana heard a newborn’s cries from a drain and pulled her out after she was abandoned, alerting passers-by whose tips led police to the scene. inquirer
● Deccan Herald. Alert strays help thwart Maoist attacks in Bihar and Jharkhand.
https://www.deccanherald.com/features/alert-strays-attract-ire-maoists-2482028 — Police stations in Naxal-affected areas of Bihar and Jharkhand deliberately befriended and fed stray dogs, whose barking provided early warning of Maoist raids — a move that paid off in multiple incidents. Deccanherald
● The Print. 91% of Indians report feeling safer because of street dogs, says new survey. (2025).
References
[1] Vanak, A. T., & Gompper, M. E. (2010). Interference competition at the landscape level. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47(6), 1225–1232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01870.x
[2] Reece, J. F., & Chawla, S. K. (2006). Control of rabies in Jaipur, India, by sterilisation and vaccination. Veterinary Record, 159(12), 379–383. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.159.12.379
[3] Totton, S. C., et al. (2010). Stray dog population demographics in Jodhpur, India following a spay/neuter/vaccinate/release program. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 97(1), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2010.07.009
[4] World Health Organization. (2013). WHO expert consultation on rabies: Second report (Tech. Rep. No. 982). WHO.
[5] Belsare, A. V., & Gompper, M. E. (2013). Assessing demographic parameters of rural dog populations in India. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 111(1–2), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2013.04.009
[6] A stray dog in New Delhi [Photograph]. (2025, November 7). Business Today. https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/remove-stray-dogs-from-public-spaces-schools-bus-and-train-stations-supre me-court-501193-2025-11-07
[7] Iftikhar, F. (2025, December 19). UGC tells universities to prevent entry of stray dogs in campus, calls for ’round-the-clock vigil.’ The Print. https://theprint.in/india/ugc-tells-universities-to-prevent-entry-of-stray-dogs-in-campus-calls-for-round-the-clock-vigil/2 808935/
About the Author
Pranav Vasishtha
A curious environmental enthusiast exploring solutions for a sustainable future.