The Supreme Court asked women dog feeders and caregivers, who made claims of harassment directed against them by anti-feeder vigilantes, to lodge FIRs and move to the jurisdictional High Courts. The top court’s comment came on Friday while hearing the stray dogs’ matter, as reported by Live Law.
The bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria heard the plea. Although they considered the alleged incident of harassment and threats as an act of violence against women, they refused to take it to the top court level. It noted that it is a problem of law and order, and remedies are available to the aggrieved under penal law.
“If someone is harassing women, it’s a crime under the Penal Code. Get FIRs registered. There are procedures available for how to get FIRs registered,” said Justice Vikram Nath as reported by Live Law.
The remarks of the Supreme Court came after Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, who was representing an animal rights activist, informed the court that women dog feeders have been subjected to beating, harassment, molestation, verbal abuse, and several other things. She cited the example of one Ghaziabad woman, a dog feeder, who was slapped 19 times within a minute by anti-feeder vigilantes. She also claimed that in one Haryana society, bouncers were hired to tackle dog feeders.
She further informed the court that several police stations refused to register harassment complaints from the feeders who, on multiple occasions, approached them.
Addressing this concern, the Supreme Court said that if local police stations are not cooperating, then the feeders can avail remedies through Magistrate courts and even High Courts.
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Published By:
Akash Chatterjee
Published On:
Jan 9, 2026
