The Supreme Court has directed that stray dogs be removed from schools, hospitals, bus depots, railway stations and other public institutions, to designated shelters “after due sterilisation and vaccination”. This landmark decision prompts two overlapping concerns: safeguarding human safety while upholding the constitutional duty of compassion toward animals. The Court itself in earlier judgments emphasised that “compassion should be shown to stray dogs but … they cannot be allowed to become a menace to society.” 

Animal welfare advocates argue that relocating healthy dogs from their local territories may violate the established Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001, which mandate sterilisation, vaccination and release back into the same area. They warn that under-resourced shelters and hasty relocation risk inflicting unnecessary pain and failing the very animals the law intends to protect. Meanwhile, public-health officials point to persistent dog-bite incidents and rabies cases as evidence of systemic failure in current stray-dog management.

The crux lies in bridging two goals: ensuring safe public spaces and treating animals with dignity. This demands far more than a judicial directive—it requires robust implementation, adequate infrastructure for shelters, transparent monitoring and community engagement. Until then, compassion risks becoming a slogan rather than the lived outcome of policy.