India’s top court orders stray dogs to be removed from New Delhi streets

No stray dogs roaming the streets of New Delhi?

That could be possible in the future after India’s top court ordered authorities in New Delhi to start removing all stray dogs from the streets, and to sterilize and relocate them to shelters permanently.

In its order yesterday, the Supreme Court directed the capital’s civic bodies to immediately initiate the process of capturing 5,000 stray dogs from “high-risk areas” for now and send them to shelters equipped with adequate staff and CCTV surveillance within six to eight weeks.

It is unclear how the court arrived at the figure of 5,000 stray dogs. Various estimates put the number of strays in New Delhi between 500,000 to one million.

While many of the dogs that roam New Delhi’s streets are harmless, the court’s order aims to control rising dog biting cases, including cases involving children. Some estimates, based on hospital records, suggest New Delhi sees nearly 2,000 dog bite incidents every day.

“Infants, young children should not at any cost fall prey to stray dogs,” the court said.