Supreme court ruled that all stray dogs in the national capital and adjoining regions must be shifted away from residential localities to shelters in view of the rising cases of dog bites leading to rabies deaths.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday criticised the decision to move all stray dogs in Delhi to shelters within a few weeks, calling it “extremely cruel” and “inhumane.” She said dogs are gentle, loving animals and do not deserve such treatment. Her comments came a day after the Supreme Court asked Delhi-NCR authorities to permanently shift all stray dogs from the streets to shelters “as soon as possible.”
Priyanka said that shifting so many dogs so quickly will cause suffering because there are not enough shelters to house them. “Even now, animals in cities face abuse and cruelty. Surely there is a better and kinder way to deal with this situation, one that keeps these innocent animals safe,” she wrote on X.
She added that dogs are among the most beautiful and gentle creatures and should be treated with compassion, not cruelty.
The moving of all the city’s stray dogs to shelters within a matter of weeks is going to result in horrendously inhumane treatment of them. Enough shelters do not even exist to take them on.
As it is animals in urban surroundings are subjected to ill treatment and brutality.…
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 12, 2025
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi government and the municipal bodies of Gurugram, Noida, and Ghaziabad to remove all stray dogs from the streets and place them in shelters.
The bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said the situation was “extremely serious” because of frequent dog bite cases leading to rabies, especially in children.
The court also said that more dog shelters will need to be built over time. As a first step, it directed Delhi authorities to set up shelters for about 5,000 dogs within six to eight weeks.
Supreme court ruled that all stray dogs in the national capital and adjoining regions must be shifted away from residential localities to shelters in view of the rising cases of dog bites leading to rabies deaths.
According to the court, the dog shelters must have professionals who can tackle dogs, carry out sterilisation and immunisation, and not let the canines out. The court also warned that any organisation blocking it will face the “strictest action”.
