The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the states and the local bodies to take steps to sterilise and vaccinate nuisance-causing stray dogs, under the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, observed that there is a need to balance compassion for animals and the existence of human beings.

It was hearing a batch of appeals, including those filed by Animal Welfare Board and dog lovers against the decisions of some high courts including the Bombay High Court and Kerala High Court to allow municipal authorities to deal with the stray dogs menace.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of the respondents, told the court that more than 46,000 dog bite cases were reported in 2015 and five deaths due to rabies were recorded. It alleged that the NGOs failed to take care of stray dogs, and that several cases of rabies have been recorded in Mumbai itself.

Granting four weeks' time for the states to respond, the court asked the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to come out with a module by July 12.

The bench passed the order after senior advocate Dushyant Dave cited two death incidents of dog bite cases in Gujarat and expressed concern over the issue.

Appearing for BMC, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade told the court that the stray dogs run into lakhs and create nuisance across the city. Submitting a data about the dog bite cases from 1994 to 2015, the lawyer said that in 2015 alone there were 46,647 cases. "The NGOs just receive funds, do not do anything and only complain. They should be asked to give accounts of their works done for the welfare of such animals," he said.

Filing an affidavit, the BMC said that steps were initiated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act after the authority received complaints over phone.

The bench has now fixed a batch of petitions on the issue of stray dogs for final hearing on July 12.