Moving all of Delhi’s stray dogs to shelters within weeks to result in “horrendously inhumane treatment”; enough shelters do not exist, says Priyanka Gandhi. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday reacted to the Supreme Court’s order to send all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters within 8 weeks, saying that the task is going to result in “horrendously inhumane” treatment of them.
In a post on X, the Congress leader remarked that enough shelters do not exist in the region to keep the stray dogs. “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,” she wrote.
“As it is animals in urban surroundings are subjected to ill treatment and brutality. Surely there is a better way to manage the situation and a humane way can be found in which these innocent animals are looked after and kept safe as well,” she added. She also stressed that dogs are the most beautiful creatures that do not deserve this kind of “cruelty”. “Dogs are the most beautiful, gentle creatures, they do not deserve this kind of cruelty,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote.
What the Supreme Court said about stray dogs
The Supreme Court on Monday directed that all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) be rounded up within eight weeks and housed in dedicated dog shelters. The court made it clear that no captured animal will be released back on the streets. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, hearing a petition registered on its own motion on the “alarming and disturbing” rise in stray dog attacks, ordered contempt proceedings against any individual or organisation that attempts to obstruct the authorities from carrying out the capture drive.
It also directed that authorities in Delhi-NCR must set up a helpline so all dog bite complaints can be registered, with the offending animal picked up “within four hours” of a complaint. “Round up all stray dogs from all localities, including localities on the outskirts of Delhi, and shift them to some other place…Whether sterilised or not sterilised, the society must feel free and safe. You should not have any stray dogs roaming around,” the bench said.
