SC Order to Remove All Stray Dogs from Delhi-NCR Sparks Outcry

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Animal rights campaigners call SC’s ruling a “death sentence” for strays, accuse it of violating welfare laws; supporters say move will make streets safer.

By TRH News Desk

NEW DELHI, August 11, 2025 — The Supreme Court’s directive to remove all stray dogs from Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, and Noida within eight weeks has triggered an intense public debate, with prominent voices sharply divided on the issue.

Actor Samyukta Hornad described the ruling as a breach of “compassion” and a violation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, saying strays deserve better care.

Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi criticised the order as “irrational” and “anger driven.” Speaking to PTI, she estimating it would require housing nearly three lakh dogs in up to 2,000 centres—costing ₹4–5 crore and risking fights between confined animals.

Journalist and activist Simi Garewal urged people to sign a petition to “save them from the cruel, inhuman order,” while Anish Gawande and Gauri Maulekhi warned the ruling amounted to a “death sentence” for community animals, noting Delhi has reported zero human rabies deaths in the last three years.

Former diplomat KC Singh called for a more “calibrated approach” focusing on sterilisation, adoption, and penalising pet abandonment. In contrast, Congress leader P. Chidambaram welcomed the order, suggesting fenced shelters on municipal land to keep streets “free and safe” for people, especially children and the elderly.

“If you’ve never loved a stray dog, you’ve missed the purest love there is and that loss is yours alone. This judgment doesn’t just break laws, it breaks compassion. It violates the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, overrides animal welfare laws, and tramples the duties our Constitution asks of us. We owe our strays better.,” wrote Hornad on X, while sharing an image of hers with dogs.

The Supreme Court’s order, taken up suo motu based on a media report, has brought India’s long-running conflict between public safety concerns and animal welfare laws into sharp focus.

But Chidambaram agreed with the verdict, saying: “The Supreme Court’s directions on stray dogs must be implemented in every city and town It is not difficult to round up stray dogs and put them in proper dog shelters.”

“All that a town needs is government or municipal land on the outskirts of a town; levelling the land and fencing it; and putting the dogs in the enclosed space. Of course, provisions must be made for food and water,” he added. The former minister also stated that “There are cost-effective ways to find the food and water for the dogs. ABC methods must and can be thought of in due course, but the first task is to round up the stray dogs and put them in a protected place.”

“Streets must be free and safe for all people especially children and elderly people,” said Chidambaram in a post on X.

The verdict came amid reports of rising cases of dog bites in the national capital region. Critics claimed that such a decision focused only for Delhi NCR may also be replicated elsewhere in the country.

Dog activists on Monday held protests at India Gate on Monday evening against the apex court verdict. Incidentally, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had carried out campaign to remove stray dogs from the national capital areas in the run up to the G20 Leaders’ Summit.