Rescued dogs are kept inside cages at Friendicoes SECA, a local animal welfare NGO in New Delhi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Former BJP Minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, condemned on Tuesday the Supreme Court’s order, which directed authorities and the Delhi government to relocate stray dogs from city streets to shelters.
The former BJP Union Minister said rodents would take over the city if canines were arbitrarily removed from the streets, citing the examples of Surat and Paris.
“In 1994, the municipal commissioner of Surat ordered the killing of all the dogs, leading the city to be taken over by rodents, followed by a severe bubonic plague outbreak. If all dogs are removed from the Capital, rodents and monkeys will take over the city. Will they again kill another species in that case?” Gandhi told The Hindu, adding that Paris too faced a similar fate in the 1880s when dogs were removed from the streets.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, expressing disappointment with the apex court’s order, said it is a step back from “decades of humane, science-backed policy”.
Echoing Mr. Gandhi’s concern, Priyanka Gandhi also stated the exercise is going to end up as a “horrendously inhumane treatment” of the canines.
Published – August 13, 2025 01:49 am IST
