The SC's Stray Animal Ruling: A Humane & Practical Solution for India

For millions who work with and care for India's voiceless animals, today’s Supreme Court directive ordering the removal of stray animals from public spaces has come as a shock.

The challenge is real: how do we find a middle ground between public safety and the right to life for all species- something that has been a key part of India's soul since time immemorial?

A Nation Built on Compassion

India's culture is one of harmonious coexistence, of empathy. We are the land of Shiva, of Buddha, of Ashoka, and Gandhi.

It is deeply ironic that a nation which once inspired the world with its reverence for all life is now struggling to find a humane way to manage its own animals.

Empathy cannot be learned from textbooks or by observing creatures from behind bars. It is learned through coexistence. If we remove all animals from our public life, we risk raising generations who are disconnected from the natural world - and from empathy itself.

The Nuance: Cattle on Highways vs. Dogs in Communities

The court is right in its attempt to ensure that animals are relocated from our dangerous highways. The pitiable condition of abandoned cattle—male calves, and cows who have ceased milk production—roaming on roads is a huge source of accidents and a tragedy that must be remedied.

This is where we must make a critical distinction. The solution for cattle on a highway is not the same as the solution for a community dog.

For dogs, the scientifically-proven and legally mandated Animal Birth Control (ABC) & Vaccination model is the perfect solution. It is humane, it is effective, and it creates healthy, stable, and rabies-free dog populations.

The failure has never been in the science - only in the lack of consistent, transparent funding and accountability.

For cattle, however, relocation is a necessary first step for their own safety and for public safety. But the question is: relocate them where?

The "Holding Pens of Suffering"

At present, many animal shelters across India are little better than holding pens of suffering- overcrowded, unhygienic, and underfunded. We cannot, in good conscience, support relocating animals from one danger to another.

If we are to have shelters, we must build the kind of shelters that set an example for the world.

A Vision for Humane, Transparent Sanctuaries

My vision is for state-of-the-art sanctuaries.

• They must be monitored 24/7 by CCTVs, with the stream broadcast live on platforms like YouTube so that citizens can ensure transparency is maintained.
• Cleanliness and professional veterinary care must be the top priority.
• These shelters should also have living accommodations where people who want to volunteer and spend time in the service of animals can come and stay.

They would cease to be prisons and instead become places of healing—destinations where parents would want to bring their children. Because a child cannot learn empathy from a visit to a zoo; they learn it by coexisting with animals, by seeing them treated with respect.

A National Plan for Funding

This vision requires huge expenditure, but there is a beautifully simple way to fund it.

India produced over 239 million metric tonnes of milk in 2023-24. The government should impose a 1 Rupee cess on every liter of milk sold in India and redirect the amount thus collected to a special vehicle fund created solely for the welfare of these rescued animals.

The funding would be abundant, permanent, and directly linked to the industry that is at the center of the cattle issue. Even this modest cess could sustainably finance modern, transparent shelters and veterinary infrastructure across the country.

This is a humane, logical, and economically sound path forward. We must fund the proven ABC model for dogs, and we must build these transparent, humane sanctuaries for cattle.

To coordinate these efforts, India should consider creating a Ministry for Animal Welfare - tasked with overseeing shelter standards, ABC implementation, and humane education. It would be one of the most inspiring acts of organized compassion in modern governance.

Until Then, Let the Dogs Stay Home

Until these shelters exist, we must refrain from the mass relocation of community dogs.
The ABC & Vaccination model must continue — with proper funding, transparency, and oversight.

Relocation will only create confusion and aggression, breaking established hierarchies and undoing years of peaceful coexistence between humans and animals.

A Measure of Civilization

Public safety and compassion are not opposing ideas; they are partners. India has the culture, the science, and the capacity to build a humane system that protects both its people and its animals. All it requires now is the will to implement it with heart and discipline.

A nation’s progress is measured not by how it moves its animals off the streets, but by how it treats them once they are out of sight.

About the Author: Nitin Sahrawat is an entrepreneur and animal welfare advocate based in Dehradun. He has spent the past eight years engaged in reforestation and hands-on stray animal rehabilitation initiatives.