Tensions remain high between advocates who’ve embraced India’s street dogs and those who want to see them removed, as measures to deal with them continue to move through India’s Supreme Court.

Last summer, the Supreme Court abruptly ordered all localities in Delhi and the surrounding suburbs to remove all street dogs, who may number as many as a million, in just eight weeks and contain them in shelters that had yet to be built and still needed funding. This was largely in response to complaints and fears of dogs attacking people and spreading rabies, which is endemic in India, accounting for 36% of global rabies deaths. 

However, the backlash was swift, resulting in a new ruling just days later that applied to the entire country, clarifying that stray dogs need to be sterilized, vaccinated, and released back to the same area, unless they were believed to have rabies, and called for designated areas for members of the public to feed them.

This was consistent with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, which require stray dogs to be trapped, vaccinated, sterilized, and then returned (TNVR) to the places where they were picked up.

Yet in November 2025, another directive was issued by the court; this time ordering all states and union territories to remove stray dogs from institutional areas, such as hospitals, schools, railways, and other spaces, adding that they may not be released back to the same place after being spayed/neutered.

Advocates for the dogs continue to argue that this is a short-sighted, performative effort that will do little to protect communities or dogs or address this issue in the long run. What will help is more support for the systematic implementation of ABC programs and ensuring compliance by all cities and states.

While it still relies heavily on donations, our partner IDA India has both the support of the local municipality and community caretakers in Mumbai. In January, it did 600 spay/neuter surgeries alone and has been immensely successful in raising awareness about this issue.

Still, even in Mumbai and elsewhere, a lack of ABC programs causes serious issues that range from increased cruelty cases to physical and verbal assaults on members of the community trying to help.

It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will ultimately rule. On January 28, it reserved its order on this issue after hearing from representatives from all states and arguments from both sides.

It’s now hoped it will require state governments to implement ABC programs and work with more non-profits willing to help. The court did order the Animal Welfare Board to take applications from non-profits that want to shelter dogs and create ABC programs. 

With an estimated 60 million street dogs in the country, this will be no small task, but steps can be implemented now to reduce the number, prevent suffering and conflicts, and people clearly care very much about working to protect these dogs. Removing dogs, or more horrifyingly, considering mass killing, is inhumane and will only perpetuate problems.

How You Can Help

Please sign and share our alert to stop Türkiye’s mass killing of homeless dogs and cats, and our alert calling for an end to the killing in Morocco.

You can also make a donation to support IDA India’s lifesaving work on this front.