New Delhi: Amid a raging debate over a Supreme Court directive to remove stray dogs from Delhi, several leaders on Tuesday questioned the order, with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Raul Gandhi calling it a “step back from decades of humane, science-backed policy”.

Among those who criticised the SC’s Monday directive were Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Varun Gandhi and TMC MP Saket Gokhale, who wrote to the Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai, appealing for a stay on its implementation.

Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, stressed that “blanket removals are cruel, shortsighted and strip us of compassion”.

“The SC’s directive to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR is a step back from decades of humane, science-backed policy,” he said.

These voiceless souls are not “problems” to be erased, the Congress leader said in a post on X.

“Shelters, sterilisation, vaccination and community care can keep streets safe – without cruelty…,” Gandhi said.

“We can ensure public safety and animal welfare go hand in hand,” the former Congress president said.

In his letter to the CJI, Gokhale contended that the SC directions are in contravention of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, and urged that the apex court should consider instituting a committee of experts and other stakeholders towards ensuring a holistic and humane solution to the issue taken up suo-moto in this matter.

He also said the directions do not take into account the impediments involved in setting up a large number of animal shelters, and the unintentional consequence of these directions will be to consign all stray dogs in Delhi to “a certain death in extremely inhumane conditions”.

Gokhale said the directions are “unreasonable with regard to taking an adversarial and hostile approach towards animal lovers and feeders”.

“With the limited deadline given by the Hon’ble Court, it will be almost impossible for the authorities to set up shelters that can accommodate all stray dogs in the city of Delhi which will invariably lead to the creation of substandard infrastructure, endangering the lives of captured stray dogs”.

“Therefore, the unintentional consequence of these directions will be to consign all stray dogs in Delhi to a certain death in extremely inhumane conditions,” he said.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took to X to voice her concern.

“The moving of all the city’s stray dogs to shelters within a matter of weeks is going to result in horrendously inhumane treatment of them. Enough shelters do not even exist to take them on,” she said and stressed that dogs are the most beautiful creatures who do not deserve this kind of “cruelty”.

As it is, animals in urban surroundings are subjected to ill treatment and brutality, the Congress general secretary said.

“Surely there is a better way to manage the situation and a humane way can be found in which these innocent animals are looked after and kept safe as well,” she said.

Former Lok Sabha MP Varun Gandhi, meanwhile, said the SC directive is “institutionalisation of cruelty”.

“The suo moto order on stray dogs by the Supreme Court is an institutionalisation of cruelty and a harbinger of a legal structure that seeks to punish those who cannot fend for themselves. How long before this extends to stray cows, the underprivileged and unauthorised settlements…” Varun Gandhi said in a post on X.

“Nations face deeper moral crises when they step away from empathy,” he said.

His mother Maneka Gandhi, animal rights activist and former Union minister, had on Monday called the directive “impractical”, “financially unviable” and “potentially harmful” to the region’s ecological balance.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the “failure” of municipal bodies is responsible for the situation, and instead of fixing accountability, defenceless animals are being victimised.

“I understand that there is a human-dog conflict here and people are also facing problems. But how did we reach this situation… It is the responsibility of the municipality and the state government to provide shelter homes and basic facilities for stray dogs.

“The Supreme Court has passed the order, but there should have been an understanding of the need for basic arrangements for strays. Now, these innocent beings who cannot speak for themselves will suffer the consequences,” she said.

The remarks come a day after the Supreme Court directed Delhi-NCR authorities to permanently relocate all strays from streets to shelters “at the earliest”.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan noted that there was an “extremely grim” situation due to stray dog bites resulting in rabies, particularly among children.

The issue has sparked an intense debate, especially on social media, with those supporting the apex court’s Monday directive citing the risk of rabies and inconvenience caused to residents by stray dogs, while the critics are calling it impractical and inhumane.

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