New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday directed that three rescued pet dogs be returned to their adoptive parents while rejecting a custody plea by their original owner, saying that animals cannot be treated as inanimate objects.
A bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia overturned a lower court order granting custody of the three pet female toy pomeranians—Mishti, Coco and Cotton—to the rival claimant, while emphasising the emotional bond between people and their adopted pets.
The three dogs, who were rescued following allegations of cruelty, could be identified as they responded to their names. “One cannot ignore the emotional bond that gets created between the person adopting the pet and the pet itself,” the high court ruled on April 16.
Advocate Manisha Parmar, who represented the adoptive parents, told ThePrint that the dogs were rescued from what she described as their “so-called original owner” following a raid, during which the pets were found “caged in a dark room and crying for help”.
The dogs were then handed over to an NGO, Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre, from where the adoptive parents acquired their custody, Parmar said.
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How the case reached court
The court was acting on a plea filed by adoptive parent Sunil Malhotra, who challenged the trial court’s orders passed in August 2025 and January 2026 regarding the release of the three pet dogs to the original owner on superdari or temporary custody of seized property.
The case pertains to Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which addresses the punishment for cruelty to animals. It says whoever beats, kicks, overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures or otherwise subjects an animal to unnecessary pain or suffering will be punished with a fine or imprisonment.
The prosecution told the court that a raid was conducted at the premises of Vishal, the original owner of the dogs, where it was found that they were being kept in “deplorable conditions”, until they were rescued. Subsequently, the dogs were handed over to the NGO.
The original owner then filed an application for superdari, which was allowed by the trial court. The court then directed the release of all rescued dogs to him. This is what led the adoptive parents to approach the Delhi High Court.
What the court ruled
Making it clear that the issue before the court was not whether the dogs were being treated with cruelty or not, the court said: “That would be in the domain of the trial court”.
On the other hand, the court said that the issue before it was the “emotional trauma which those voiceless animals would be undergoing after being separated from their adoptive parents”.
Saying that it was keeping in mind the welfare of the rescued dogs, the court noted that the parties had reached an agreement.
The original owner had agreed to return the dogs to the adoptive parents, on the condition that when he is acquitted in an underlying criminal case, the custody of the three dogs will be returned to him.
“Accordingly, with consent of both sides, the impugned orders are modified, thereby directing that the present respondent no.3 shall release those three female pomeranian dogs namely Mishti, Coco and Cotton to the present petitioners through the IO (Inquiry Officer) by tomorrow,” the court ruled.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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