Congress MP Shashi Tharoor backed the Supreme Court’s order on the stray dog menace but blamed municipal inaction, urging funds be given to NGOs instead, as activists and leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi criticised the mass removal plan as cruel and unscientific.
Photo: IANS
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday reacted to the Supreme Court’s order on the stray dog menace in Delhi-NCR and said that poor management of the canine populations was not due to “lack of funds” but because of the “failure of municipalities to utilize allocated resources for sterilization and shelter programmes”.
Taking to X, the global diplomat termed the order a “thoughtful response”. In his post, he said, “This is a thoughtful response to the problem that is affecting ordinary citizens in every city. We need to protect humans while being humane to dogs. But one point no one mentions is that the flaw in our system is not lack of resources, but the unwillingness or inability of municipalities to perform the task of rounding up and neutering stray dogs, even when funds have been provided.”
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This is a thoughtful response to the problem that is affecting ordinary citizens in every city. We need to protect humans while being humane to dogs. But one point no one mentions is that the flaw in our system is not lack of resources, but the unwillingness or inability of… https://t.co/HJCc09QCXr
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— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 13, 2025
He added, “These funds are never actually spent where needed — in making the arrangements that the SC, in understandable exasperation, has now decreed. Perhaps the funds should instead be allotted to animal welfare groups and sincere NGOs with a track record of sheltering animals? They are more likely to implement the ABC programme than the municipalities are.”
Chief Justice of India BR Gavai stated on Wednesday that he will ‘look into’ the Supreme Court’s order to civic authorities in the Delhi-NCR region to remove all stray dogs and place them in shelters within eight weeks.
The matter was mentioned before a CJI Gavai-led bench by a lawyer, who pointed out that the different benches of the apex court have issued conflicting directions on the stray dogs.
CJI Gavai noted that “the other judge bench has already passed orders”, but assured the petitioner that he “will look into this.”
On August 11, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed civic authorities in Delhi-NCR to remove stray dogs from all localities within eight weeks.
The court directed them to sterilize the stray dogs and put them in shelters within eight weeks, and make sure they are not released back.
The order received backlash from animal rights activists, organizations, and individuals, including former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Reacting to the top court’s order, Rahul said that blanket removal of stray dogs is cruel and shortsighted.
“Blanket removals are cruel, shortsighted, and strip us of compassion. We can ensure public safety and animal welfare go hand in hand,” he said.
BJP’s Maneka Gandhi said that the removal is impractical and counterproductive.
“When the dogs from here are displaced, dogs from nearby states will come to Delhi, as there will be more food here. Within a week, there will be another three lakh dogs in Delhi, and these will not be sterilised,” she said.
Animal rights watchdog PETA India also reacted sharply to the apex court’s order, saying the removal is unscientific.
In a statement, PETA India said that the removal of all stray dogs from streets in Delhi-NCR is not scientific and the move will lead to their starvation.
“Communities think of neighbourhood dogs as family, and the displacement and jailing of dogs is not scientific and has never worked,” PETA India said in a statement.
PETA stated that Delhi has around 10 lakh community dogs, and less than half of them are sterilized.
“Forced removal of some 10 lakh community dogs from Delhi’s streets will cause uproar in communities that care deeply for them and chaos and suffering for the dogs on a large scale. It will also ultimately do nothing to curb the dog population, reduce rabies, or prevent dog bite incidents,” it said.
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