In one fell swoop, the Supreme Court has taken what was the one and only real right Delhi-NCR’s stray dogs had — the right to live on the streets.
The court’s blanket order to shift all stray dogs to shelters makes one wonder: Is this a knee-jerk reaction like so many others in the past? Because if you look at ground reality, there is no way it can be enforced. The only thing this will do, and already has, is embolden certain sections of society to use it as an endorsement to treat stray dogs even more cruelly than they always have.
The order contradicts the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which lay out norms for sterilisation of dogs living on the streets. What happens to those rules if the dogs are taken off the streets? What will be the job of the Animal Welfare Board of India now?
The Supreme Court’s anger is valid. After all, it has to address the issue of dog bites, the safety of the people is at stake. But it is taking out its fury on the wrong (furry) animal. Pardon the pun, I could not resist.
Stray dogs are not at fault. Rounding them up and stuffing them in shelters is not the solution. It’s like picking up all the clothes strewn in your room and stuffing them in your cupboard so the mess isn’t visible. Why should they suffer when they can do nothing but simply exist and survive in a world dominated by a species that thinks it has some divine right over every inch of this planet?
A flawed plan
The human-stray dog conflict has reached its boiling point and finally gotten colossally out of hand solely because successive governments have failed spectacularly to control the growing canine population with a robust sterilisation programme. They have failed to create safe feeding spots to minimise human-stray dog conflict, and vaccinate stray dogs on a war footing, at a pace that can keep up with the population rate. Did you know that an Indian stray dog can have up to 6-9 puppies each pregnancy, and gives birth 2-3 times a year? There are around 10 lakh stray dogs in Delhi alone, and this year, until July, only around 65,000 were sterilised and vaccinated, according to Municipal Corporation of Delhi data. You can do the math to gauge the problem.
Alright, let’s try to play the devil’s advocate and look at the Supreme Court’s order. Building shelters to house all stray dogs possibly for years to come — oh great! At least they won’t have to starve on the streets — would essentially also entail keeping them alive? That would mean trained staff available 24/7, daily meals, regular cleaning and disinfecting, and veterinary care for when they fall ill? Do the NCR governments have the resources and funds to do this indefinitely? When the civic body has only made a little more than a dent through its Animal Birth Control drive — with NGOs who carry it out constantly complaining about poor infrastructure and fund crunch — how will it sustain these many shelters? A big number will be needed to house all the dogs on the streets.
Heck, if the civic body had those kinds of funds at its disposal, it would do a way better job at other things too, like keeping the city clean and ensuring enough streetlights for women’s safety.
The point of women’s safety reminds me of a question a dog lover-friend of mine asked me today. According to Delhi Police data, a total of 1,18,822 cases that include rape and POCSO (a law that protects children from sexual offences) were registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the first half of 2025. If children are to be protected from dog bites, they should be protected from sexual predators too. Will the Supreme Court pass an order to round up all the men in Delhi and put them in pounds?
Back to the point of shelters again. If lakhs of unsterilised dogs are stuffed in the same confined space, what stops them from reproducing there too? Where is the space to earmark large swathes of land that will be needed to build these shelters? Closed spaces won’t do, because dogs can suffer from several infectious diseases (only among them) like distemper, parvo, and tick fever, which spread like wildfire.
If the top court has taken this decision after having mulled over this, it has essentially, knowingly, signed a death warrant for these innocent creatures.
Also read: I hated dogs but adopted one. I didn’t know it then, but I was the one being rescued
The right to live
It doesn’t take a genius to guess that the court has given the government barely any time to enforce its order. Eight weeks! This limited time window will lead to a hurried exercise to brush a decades-old issue under the rug. And it won’t be pretty. Who will guarantee that all dogs will be safely picked up, without any injuries? Even before the court order, several dogs picked up for sterilisation have returned with an infection, or with surgery sutures coming undone.
But all these arguments fall flat in front of the biggest counter to the Supreme Court’s order. One that goes above all these worldly arguments. Stray dogs have the right to live, and the streets are their home. For generations, they have adapted to roaming free, foraging for food, and being in constant survival mode as they navigate congested localities bustling with people and vehicles. If you confine them, then you are endangering their safety and well-being because stray dogs lead a hard life and therefore can be extremely territorial and attack each other if they sense they need to compete for resources.
Possibly the worst consequence of this order will be people using it as an excuse to get dogs picked up and dumped anywhere. They have already been doing it, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 has been useless in stopping this. Now all they will do is whip out their phone and show you a WhatsApp forward on the top court order.
Now that we have looked at some of the logical loopholes, there is one last thing to talk about.
For decades, courts have stressed that the human-stray dog conflict has to be solved through a balanced approach that ensures the protection of people as well as compassion toward animals. Suddenly, the compassion seems to have gone for a toss.
It is indeed a black day for those who have known the love of a stray dog. Ask the people who roam the streets every night to feed dogs so they don’t starve to death. Ask the rescue organisations that put in their blood, sweat, and savings to save a dog beaten half to death by a drunkard roaming the streets. Ask that mohalle wali college student who has christened every stray dog in her locality with names like ‘Kalu’, ‘Oreo’, and ‘Tuffy’, and places bori beds in every bylane on chilly winter nights. Ask that other rescuer who spends every weekend catching stray dogs and taking them for sterilisation, because as much as she loves puppies, she doesn’t want more of them to be born in this cruel world.
Justice can never be lopsided. Even if the other side cannot speak. Stray dogs have lost their most powerful ally — the courts.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
Tough call from the SC. But if you ask the question who is responsible, fingers should first be pointed at the holier than thou Stray Dog Activists, their dogmatic refusal to understand the problem, their ablism and inhumanity have played a huge role in getting us here. So before going after the SC, I suggest look at the mirror. From someone who happens to be a person with disability, who had to often confine simple choices like just stepping out on to the road because of the uncertainty of the next step you take could end up stamping on a dog lying on the middle of the road attacking you.
Stilll waiting for your animal love on Bakra Eid 💀
कुत्तों से प्रेम
बच्चे पालने से चिढ
वाह रे तेरी फेमिनिज्म, लिबरलिज्म
Stray dogs must be officially declared by the Govt. of India as vermin. That would enable people to take the initiative and start mass culling of stray dogs.
These journalists live in ivory towers – totally disconnected from the everyday realities of life of an average Indian. The daily harassment which we face, especially at late night and early morning hours, while venturing out of our homes is something they will never understand. The fear with which we navigate the streets, at times chased by these strays, is something alien to these journalists. No wonder their heart bleeds for these dogs but not for the victims of dog bites and maulings.
How conveniently The Print editorial put the blame on the government for rising cases of dog bites in India while exculpating these dogs!
Most certainly. Stray dogs have the “right to live” in the homes of those who feel so strongly for them. If your heart so bleeds for stray dogs, kindly adopt them and care for them at your home. Do not let them roam our cities and towns attacking little children and elderly citizens.
Ended up posting the earlier comment before reviewing it and I see that it had come out different from what I intended to write. Sorry about that. Unable to remove that. Here is the edited version:
Sometimes I feel if people who bat for strays have contempt for fellow humans! I wonder rather than the “love for stray dogs” if it is this contempt which drives the so-called protectors of the strays. Else, you would have talked about the fact that no other civilised nation would tolerate a law/act that puts the lives of animals over those of humans. Why don’t you talk about why Australia culls Kangaroos and how other Western Nations cull any animal that poses threat to human lives in cities and towns? But then the so-called “protectors of stray dogs” who live in ivory towers probably don’t value the lives of the people who come in direct contact with these strays. Dont assume people who want strict control of strays are against animals. Having a pet is different from indiscriminately acting in a way that increases the stray population in the streets. Ever tried riding a two wheeler along the streets infested with strays? Ever wondered about the safety of children who are unfortunate to be born in those lanes and have to hold their dear life every time they walk around? Only those who have to live through this nightmare and the fear of contracting rabies can understand this.
Any other Nation that values the lives of its citizens would have ordered the culling of strays to bring the number to manageable levels and ensure the safety of its citizens. Show me one country which prohibits culling of a stray dog that had killed a human? In India not just that they cannot be culled, the law states that even if a stray has killed a human, it has to be vaccinated and left back at the same street!! The ones living in the ivory towers, sheltered from the ground realities, with strong lobbies make the governments pass such ridiculous anti-human laws! Can one do that in any other country?!
People like you have contempt for fellow human citizens. Rather than the “love for animals” it is this contempt which drives people like you. Else, you would have talked about the fact that no other civilised nation would tolerates law/act that puts the lives of animals over those of humans. Why don’t you talk about why Australia culls Kangaroos and how other Western Nations cull any animal that poses threat to human live? But then the likes of you who live in ivory towers don’t value the lives of the people who come in direct contact with these strays. Ever tried riding a two wheeler along the streets infested with strays? Ever wondered about the safety of children who are unfortunate to be born in those lanes and have to hold their dear life every time they walk around?
Any other Nation that values the live of its citizens would have ordered the culling of strays to bring the number to manageable levels and ensure the safety of its citizens.
Show me one country which prohibits culling of a stray dog that had killed a human? In India not just they cannot be culled, the law states that even if a stray has killed a human, it has to be vaccinated and left back at the same street!! The likes of you from ivory towers with your strong lobbies made the governments pass such ridiculous ant-human laws! can you do that in any other country?!