I am a student and a resident of Delhi, and I am deeply concerned about the Supreme Court’s recent order directing authorities to remove all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi and its suburbs to animal shelters.

While the intention may be to ensure safety, this blanket removal is neither humane nor practical. Here’s why:

It violates existing animal protection laws — The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023 clearly state that sterilised and vaccinated community dogs should be returned to the same area they were taken from. Past Supreme Court judgments have upheld this principle.
It will harm both animals and humans — Delhi’s shelters are already overcrowded, and mass relocation will lead to poor living conditions, disease outbreaks, and high mortality rates.
It will make the problem worse — Removing community dogs creates a “vacuum effect,” where unsterilised and unvaccinated dogs move in, increasing the risk of bites and rabies.
It is ethically wrong — Dogs are sentient beings that have coexisted with communities for centuries. Forcibly confining healthy animals is unnecessary and cruel.

Instead of removing all stray dogs, authorities should:

Intensify sterilisation and vaccination drives.
Keep sterilised dogs in their own territories where they act as natural guardians.
Relocate only genuinely dangerous or aggressive animals, not every street dog.

I am calling on:
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)

The Delhi Government
Municipal Corporations of Delhi
The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

…to urgently file for a review or modification of this order and adopt humane, evidence-based stray dog management practices.

If you care about Delhi’s community animals, public health, and compassion, please sign and share this petition. Together, we can ensure a solution that protects people and animals.