NEW DELHI: Delhi police on Monday detained animal rights activists, rescuers, caregivers, and dog lovers protesting at India Gate against the Supreme Court’s order to move all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters within eight weeks.Earlier in the day, in a suo motu case on dog bite incidents, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi government to start picking up stray dogs from all localities, house them in shelters, and not release them back onto streets, colonies, or public places.The court said shelters must be set up to accommodate around 5,000 dogs and staffed with enough personnel for sterilisation and immunisation.Calling the situation “extremely grim,” the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan stressed, “We are issuing these directions keeping larger public interest in mind,” further adding that infants, young children should not at any cost fall prey to stray dog bites leading to rabies.PETA India Advocacy Associate Shaurya Agrawal criticised the ruling, calling it “impractical, illogical and… according to the animal birth control rules, also illegal.” He said Delhi has around 10 lakh stray dogs and housing them all in shelters would be impossible. “This is going to create chaos and problems. Removal of dogs is inhumane, is cruelty in itself, and the conditions within the shelters are going to be very bad…We are exploring all our legal avenues. And in the past, we have met the Delhi government and have urged them to implement the ABC rules properly and the sterilisation programs in the city,” he added.
