The recent Supreme Court ruling ordering the removal of all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets has evoked fierce criticism from Bollywood stars and animal enthusiasts alike. In a ruling made on August 11,
the top court ordered authorities to catch the animals and put them in shelters based on increasing dog attack cases and a worrying spike in rabies cases.
The ruling is being blasted as an overreach that punishes an entire class of chickens instead of addressing the underlying problems in the scenario. Sanya Malhotra has condemned the act, calling it a deeply inhumane procedure. “We Call It a Heartbeat”
“We Call It a Heartbeat”
Actress Sanya Malhotra posted an emotional Instagram post, “They call it a menace. We call it a heartbeat.” She explained stray dogs as a part of the soul of the city, remembering how they sit outside tea stalls for biscuits, protect shops at night, and wag their tails on children’s return from school.
She called on the public to reject the notion of mass confinement as, “Yes, there are issues — bites, safety issues — but caging a whole community of animals is not a solution, it’s an erasure.”
“A Death Sentence for All Dogs”
Other Bollywood personalities shared their view. John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, and Janhvi Kapoor publicly criticised the order as a “death sentence for all dogs”. They maintained that confining stray dogs to cages denies them their liberty and their home environment, making them unhappy and likely to suffer.
Humane Alternatives Proposed
Animal welfare activists have cited that large-scale sterilisation drives, frequent vaccination drives, and community feeding centres present more humane and long-term solutions to controlling the stray population. Malhotra’s post echoed this, “The real fix? Large-scale sterilisation programs, regular vaccination drives, community feeding zones, and adoption campaigns. Not punishment. Not imprisonment.”
A Larger Reflection on Society
The controversy has also become an extended contemplation on compassion and social conscience. “A society which can’t protect its voiceless is a society losing its soul,” Malhotra cautioned. “Today it’s the dogs. Tomorrow… who will it be?”
The animal rights supporters have also backed the agitation and urged people to come out onto the streets so that they can request the Supreme Court for a review.
As the outrage grows, so does the growing chasm between public safety needs and animal welfare values, with members of the legislature feeling more compelled to resolve this situation in a just, humane way.
