Between Love and Fear: India's Stray Dog Dilemma

According to the WHO, every year 18,000 to 20,000 people die of rabies

- SHASHI SHEKHAR

The Supreme Court's latest order on stray dogs tries to strike a middle path between animal lovers and citizens terrorised by their menace. It allows the strays to be sterilized, vaccinated, dewormed and then released back into their localities, except those that are aggressive or rabid, which must remain in shelters. Public feeding has been banned, though municipalities must now set up designated feeding zones.

The immediate fallout showed just how divisive the issue has become. At a public grievance meeting last week, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta narrowly escaped harm when a man suddenly charged at her, waving papers and shouting. Security personnel caught him in time. The attacker was identified as Rajesh Bhai Khimji from Rajkot, described by his mother as an animal lover who was enraged by the court's earlier decision to remove strays. The motive is still being ascertained. But the fact that someone could travel hundreds of kilometres and attempt to attack a state's chief minister underlines the polarization surrounding the issue of stray dogs.