What happens to New Delhi's stray dogs as India's top court orders them off the streets?
India's top court has ordered authorities to remove all stray dogs from the streets and place them in permanent shelters, sparking an uproar from animal-rights groups over the feasibility of a decision some say was made in anger.
"The Supreme Court order is a death sentence for our community dogs and mass relocation is not the answer," Red Paws Rescue, a New Delhi animal welfare charity that works with stray dogs, said in an Instagram post.
"Perhaps this is a judgment given in anger, because it's not technically feasible," animal rights activist, former BJP MP and ex-Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said in a Facebook video posted Monday, shortly after the Supreme Court's decision.
"If by some ... miracle, we can make those pounds in eight weeks ... how will you feed them? Who will be looking after them?"
India's top court took up the case after several reports in local media of stray dogs biting children in Delhi — some of them fatal. Some estimates, based on hospital records, suggest New Delhi sees nearly 2,000 dog bite incidents every day.
According to the World Health Organization, India accounts for 36 per cent of the world's rabies deaths, and about 30 to 60 per cent of reported rabies cases and deaths in India occur in children under the age of 15.
"Infants and young children, not at any cost, should fall prey to rabies. The action should inspire confidence that they can move freely without fear of being bitten by stray dogs," legal news website Live Law quoted the court as saying on Monday.
Arjun Sen, who says his 12-year-old son was gravely injured after being bitten by a dog, told Reuters he welcomed the decision of the top court.
"The dogs should be removed from our locality as soon as possible and sent to wherever they are supposed to be sent so that others do not face this problem," Sen said.
'Cruel' and 'shortsighted'
In its order Monday, the Supreme Court directed the capital's civic bodies to immediately initiate the process of capturing 5,000 stray dogs from "high-risk areas" for now and send them to shelters equipped with adequate staff and CCTV surveillance within six to eight weeks.
It is unclear how the court arrived at the figure of 5,000 stray dogs. Media reports, citing information from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and animal rights organizations, put the number of strays in New Delhi between 800,000 to one million.
Many activists are criticizing the decision, some citing lack of infrastructure. Bahar Dutt, a conservation biologist, called the order impractical, unscientific and shortsighted in a post on X.
"Where are the shelters to house thousands of dogs?" she wrote.
In its Instagram post, Redpaws Rescue wrote that "5,000 dogs in one shelter is a recipe for disaster," explaining the municipal corporation doesn't have the resources to take care of them, feed them, vaccinate them, sterilize them, and give proper medical care.
"Infections will spread, unsterilized dogs will start reproducing, increasing the population, the weaker dogs will get into fights due to lack of resources and our seniors will perish."
Protestors arrested
Meanwhile, according to various Indian media reports, dozens of protestors have been detained by New Delhi police. NDTV reports that 40 to 50 protestors were arrested Tuesday at the India Gate archway.
Footage from NDTV and ET Now show police rounding up angry protestors and putting them on busses.
"They feel that whatever actions have been given by the Supreme Court, it is inhumane in nature," an NDTV reporter said Tuesday amid the drama of protestors being rounded up around her.
A petition to reverse the Supreme Court's decision on change.org already had nearly 370,000 signatures as of Wednesday. The description claimed that New Delhi's stray dogs are part of the community.
"They live in our neighbourhoods, provide companionship to those who may otherwise feel lonely, and often become our cherished friends," wrote the petition's starter, Poonam Ahuja.
"It's disheartening to face an order that suggests relocating these innocent beings to shelters permanently, tearing them away from the only home they've ever known: the streets they lovingly guard."
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