‘Don’t know where to start’: Dog catchers in despair

The ground staff of Delhi's municipal bodies are staring at one of the largest animal control operations in their history with the Supreme Court on Monday ordering Delhi-NCR authorities to round up all stray dogs within eight weeks and house the Capital's estimated million stray canines permanently in dedicated shelters.

- Jignasa Sinha

The directive leaves no room for the current “catch, sterilise, release” policy -- once housed in ashelter, a dog cannot return to the streets.

The court told municipal agencies to create adequate shelter facilities before the deadline. That means preparing to capture and relocate an estimated one million dogs from Delhi's lanes. But in dog-catching squads across the city, the mood is grim.