How Delhi's canine cohort became the focus of debate

When the death of a child led to a court order stipulating that Delhi's stray dogs be rounded up, it sparked mass protests as well as nationwide interest.

- Namita Singh reports from India

India's Supreme Court has backtracked on a controversial order that all stray dogs in Delhi must be rounded up and placed in shelters, after an outcry from animal welfare groups, politicians and citizens who warned it was neither humane nor feasible.

Earlier this month, the court ruled that every stray in the capital region – close to 1 million dogs, according to estimates – should be removed from the streets within eight weeks. The directive followed rising reports of dog bites and rabies cases nationwide, and a media storm over the death of a child allegedly from rabies.

Yet Delhi has barely 20 shelters and sterilisation centres, and many of these have capacity for only a few dozen animals. A larger facility visited by The Independent this week was crowded with ill and traumatised animals, many of which had visible open wounds. Even if more such shelters are built, activists say, housing dogs permanently in cages would cause immense suffering, spread disease, and ultimately fail to control the street population.

Under intense pressure and following a heated, weeks-long national debate on the issue, the court abruptly revised its order on Friday, saying that dogs should be captured and released back to the streets they live on after being sterilised and vaccinated – which is largely in keeping with current best practice.

But a line in the new order – that dogs considered “aggressive” or potentially rabid should not be released – is poorly defined, leaving a legal loophole that campaigners worry could be used as a licence for animal abuse.