‘We cannot live in a plastic society, devoid of empathy’: Pune dog lovers hail SC modification of order on strays

On August 11, a two-judge Bench had issued a directive to remove all stray dogs from streets across Delhi-NCR and specifically directed that the stray dogs should not be brought back to their habitat after sterilisation.

With the latest revision of the apex court order, actor Divya Seth Shah, pole artist Nupur Chaudhuri, and animal rescuer Mrunaal Jadhav have shared their reactions with The Indian Express.

To put stray dogs into ghetto-like shelters not a solution: Divya Seth Shah, actor

A civilised, humane society has an integral responsibility towards other sentient beings living in the community. Today it’s the dogs and the pigeons. Tomorrow it’ll be cats, badgers, and who knows what else! There are such screaming issues tormenting our urban landscape – destruction of forest cover, inexplicable wildlife deaths, potholed roads, crime, rape, murder, garbage, etc, not to mention mental health. But the burning issue became the removal of community dogs. Dogs on the streets, if treated with compassion, are the watchdogs, literally, of your areas. We cannot live in a plastic society, devoid of empathy and kindness. For every video shown of dogs attacking people, we need to also see those of the same dogs being starved, stoned, and ill-treated.

Dogs are extremely territorial. They not only patrol your streets, they also think your home is theirs to guard, your children are theirs to protect. In return, all they want is some food and shelter when it’s bitterly cold, hot, or raining and they are yours for life. To capture them with cruelty and imprison them and put them into ghetto-like shelters is not a solution. In fact, the shelters are not even there yet! Who will take care of them? Where is the money to feed them and neuter them? I have rescued a couple of dogs whose ears are clipped, but they were pregnant. The municipalities have been given money per dog in every city of our country and yet this problem has become critical. So who is to blame?

I have full faith in our judiciary and definitely our Supreme Court. So grateful for their revised statement.

‘Collective efforts, protests have worked’: Nupur Chaudhuri, pole artist

The Supreme Court’s modification of its previous order is truly a welcome move and a big relief. People had united across all states to protest against the previous order, which stated that all dogs in Delhi-NCR were to be picked up and placed in shelters permanently within 8 weeks. This was not viable at all. Crores of money would need to be spent to first create facilities to house the dogs, feed them, take care of their health, and ensure there is no overcrowding, etc. I joined the two protests in Pune because I am all for a scientific solution to the human-dog conflict, and that is ‘Neuter-Vaccinate-Release’. This ensures population control and no spread of rabies. As pointed out in court, there has not been a single rabies death in Delhi from 2022 to 2024. Street dogs have always coexisted with us and the streets are their homes. It is inhumane to just pick them up and decide to never bring them back. It is equivalent to a death sentence. They are voiceless but as compassionate beings, it is our job to seek justice for them. I think collective efforts and protests have worked and won today with the order modification. Personally, I have adopted indie dogs at home and our restaurant, and also vaccinated others on the street. If more people take this up by either working with animal volunteers or ensuring the local body carries out the responsibility effectively, there will eventually be peaceful coexistence. If we show love to the dogs, they show it back tenfold.

‘I was speechless, to say the least’: Mrunaal Jadhav, animal rescuer

When my friend called me with an update on the verdict about street dogs, I was speechless, to say the least. All the anxiety, anger, and helplessness I battled with for the last 10 days dissipated in relief. Although not a resident of Delhi, the previous verdict unsettled me to my core, which I’m sure I can say on behalf of the majority of animal lovers and activists across the nation. Working as an animal welfare volunteer in Sangli, a small city near Pune, I have seen the already existing ignorance and apathy among the people towards animal welfare laws and regulations. If upheld, the former verdict would have threatened the decades’ worth of work our country has put into peacefully coexisting with the community dogs.

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