Mumbai: Actors Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan have voiced concern over the Supreme Court’s recent order to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets and relocate them to shelters.
Both actors took to Instagram Stories to share a post calling the decision a “death sentence for all dogs.” The post argued that taking the animals away from their familiar surroundings would deprive them of “sunlight,” “freedom,” and the daily connections they share with residents.
“They call it a menace. We call it a heartbeat… These aren’t just ‘stray dogs.’ They are the ones waiting outside tea stalls for biscuits, guarding shops at night, wagging their tails when children return from school. Caging an entire community of animals is not a solution—it’s an erasure,” the post read.
On Monday, a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan directed that all localities be made free of stray dogs, stressing there should be “no compromise” on the matter. The court also ordered contempt proceedings against anyone obstructing capture operations.
“If any individual or organisation comes in the way of rounding up stray dogs, we will take action,” Justice Pardiwala said.
The court instructed states and municipal bodies to set up shelters with adequate staff for sterilisation and vaccination. Authorities in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, MCD, and NMDC were told to begin removal drives, prioritising vulnerable areas. A helpline must also be created to register dog bite complaints, with the offending animal to be picked up within four hours.
The bench further ordered daily records of captured dogs, CCTV monitoring for compliance, and directed that no animal be released back into public spaces.
