Animal welfare groups have expressed outrage over the Supreme Court directive ordering the removal of all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed the Delhi government and civic bodies on Monday to relocate the stray dogs to dedicated shelters within eight weeks.
Jaishree Bansal, founder of Helping Hands of Animals, called the decision “inhumane” and vowed to challenge the apex court's order.
“Removing the dogs is not a solution. They are as much citizens of Delhi as you and I are,” Bansal told ANI. “Where will you find land to keep three lakh stray dogs in Delhi? Then you need infrastructure, including staff, medical staff and an amount for expenses. This is not possible.”
Bansal argued that the order was impractical both logistically and financially. “If you want to do this within eight weeks, you would need at least five acres of land for a minimum of 10,000 dogs. Now the question is, where will you find that much land near Delhi NCR to transport more than three lakh dogs at once?” she said.
Even if space could be secured, she pointed out the enormous costs. “The monthly cost of caring for one dog is Rs 5,000. For three lakh dogs, how much would that be? How will the government manage that? It's just not possible,” she said, warning that existing shelters are “more like pounds or enclosures where the animals are just dumped.”
#WATCH | Delhi | On SC order to send all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters within 8 weeks, Founder of Helping Hands of Animals, Jaishree Bansal says, "Removing the dogs is not a solution, they are as much citizens of Delhi as you and I are....Where will you find land to keep 3… pic.twitter.com/ELQJXEJ01A
She emphasised that most strays are not aggressive and are part of local communities. “If, out of a hundred, one dog has bitten someone, I can accept that such a dog be picked up or kept in captivity. But to pick up all the dogs and confine them is very inhumane,” she said.
Instead, Bansal urged the authorities to focus on targeted interventions and better sterilisation efforts. “If sterilisation were happening on time, would there have been so many dogs? Many previous Supreme Court judgments have stated relocation is a crime,” she added.
Her organisation has proposed alternative measures, such as a special task force and a helpline to report dog-bite incidents, with proof required before action is taken. “The aim should be to prevent human-animal conflict, and for that, awareness camps should be organised,” she said.
She advocated that stray dogs also have rights under Indian law. “Basically, if one individual commits a crime, only that individual is punished; you don't arrest the entire family or the whole human community. We will definitely challenge this order,” she said.
Earlier, on Monday, leading animal rights organisation PETA India also issued a statement calling for an ‘effective sterilisation programme' instead of the removal of stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-NCR.
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