Former Union Minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has strongly criticised the Supreme Court's directive to relocate all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to dedicated shelters within eight weeks, calling the judgement impractical and "given in anger."
In a video statement released by NGO People for Animals, Gandhi questioned the feasibility of the court's order, stating, "Perhaps this is a judgement given in anger because it's not technically feasible."
"You have three lakh dogs in Delhi. To get them all off the roads, you'll have to make 3,000 pounds, each with drainage, water, a shed, a kitchen, and a watchman. That will cost about Rs 15,000 crore. Does Delhi have Rs 15,000 crore for this?" she told PTI.
Gandhi highlighted the enormous financial and logistical challenges, explaining that each pound would require half an acre to one acre of land and cost approximately five crores per month to operate. "Do we have that kind of land? You have a thousand acres lying around. Each centre to run will cost you about five crores a month. Does government have that kind of money? No," she argued.
The activist claimed the judgement was based on "fake news" about a dog attack, asserting that "the girl died of meningitis and her parents have confirmed it." She estimated the total cost of implementation at around 20,000 crores.
Gandhi warned of unintended consequences, predicting that removing Delhi's dogs would create a vacuum quickly filled by strays from neighbouring areas. "Within 48 hours, this city will be full of 3 lakh more dogs coming from Ghaziabad, Faridabad, the villages. Because there is food available here," she stated.
Instead of mass relocation, Gandhi advocated for improving Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres and addressing the root cause of dog bites—relocation practices. She revealed that her organisation had prepared a 14-point roadmap with the government, guaranteeing results within two years through better sterilisation programmes and monitoring committees.
"We want less dogs, we want no biting and we want a happy coexistence between humans and animals. We can reach that in 2 years," Gandhi emphasised, urging the government and judiciary to reconsider their approach.
The Supreme Court order was issued by a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, responding to rising incidents of stray dog attacks in Delhi-NCR. Justice Pardiwala had stated that "no sentiments of any nature should be involved" in implementing the directive.
