The Supreme Court’s recent order directing Delhi and NCR civic bodies to capture thousands of street dogs from “high-risk” areas, sterilise and vaccinate them, and then keep them in shelters permanently, has raised deep concerns among animal welfare groups and citizens alike. While presented as a public safety measure, the approach is, at its core, profoundly inhumane.

The idea of permanent sheltering might seem compassionate at first glance. Yet for free-living dogs, confinement is a cruel fate. These animals are used to the freedom of streets, the familiarity of neighbourhood corners, community interactions and the simple comfort of routines and relationships. To uproot them and place them inside cages, possibly for the rest of their lives is to rob them of their social lives and cause them psychological and physical suffering.

In overcrowded shelters, where resources are strained, confinement strips animals of their ability to express natural behaviours and subjects them to extreme stress, aggression, self-harm, illness, and often, early death. The so-called “care” is nothing but a slow erasure of a life once lived with belonging and freedom.

Even if compelled to implement this order, authorities are operating in a context where the infrastructure is already overburdened. The first response to this order by the public was "What shelters?" The concept of a dog pound is completely a Western one. The shelters we have here do not operate like them. Any municipal shelters we do have across India are chronically understaffed, with limited veterinary professionals, inadequate quarantine zones, and poor sanitation. Their budgets are stretched thin, and space is rarely sufficient — not even for stray dogs surrendered by caring citizens. Adding thousands more will inevitably lead to poor conditions, the spread of disease, neglect, and, in many cases, premature death.

Unlike in Western pounds, where dogs at least have a window for adoption before being euthanised, this order doesn’t even allow for that — there is no pathway for adoption at all. In reality, without release or rehoming, the only way to manage the numbers will be to kill these dogs, making this a slow and bureaucratic death sentence.

If carried out as reported, the order would also stand in direct conflict with India’s existing animal welfare framework. The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023, mandate the capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release (CSVR) model — dogs must be returned to the areas they come from, not locked away. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act calls for the avoidance of unnecessary suffering, while Article 51A(g) of the Constitution enshrines the duty of citizens and institutions to treat all living beings with compassion.

Courts from the Supreme Court itself to High Courts in Delhi, Mumbai, and Kerala, have repeatedly upheld the CSVR model, striking down attempts to remove vaccinated and sterilised dogs permanently. This new directive disregards decades of legal development and established precedent in favour of a shortcut masquerading as humane action.

Ultimately, this order does not address the root of the issue — it simply removes the animals from sight. Without a plan to manage the population humanely, it becomes a way to get rid of them rather than to protect either people or dogs. The proven, sustainable path forward is clear: widespread vaccination, effective sterilisation, and the release of healthy dogs back to their familiar territories along with community engagement with feeders and citizens to monitor dog populations. Anything else is not a solution — it is the quiet elimination of lives that could have been managed, cared for, and allowed to coexist safely with their communities.

Write a letter to the supreme court at supremecourt@nic.in to voice your protest, and sign the petition to reverse the order here.

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