From the Streets, With Fear: A Plea for Compassion for India’s Stray Dogs

From the Streets, With Fear – A Plea for Compassion, Not Punishment

We were born on these streets.

We did not choose them.

We did not choose hunger, traffic, fear, stones, sticks, or the constant threat of being chased, beaten, poisoned, or killed. Yet, every day, we survive quietly until we are blamed for a crisis we did not create.

Today, as discussions around stray dogs grow louder, we ask: where is the compassion in the conversation?

Fear Is Being Manufactured — Violence Is Becoming Normal

Across India, fear of stray dogs is often amplified without context, data, or accountability. This fear has translated into unchecked violence:

• Dogs beaten to death
• Run over intentionally
• Poisoned
• Thrown off rooftops
• Burned
• Sexually assaulted

Yes, raped. These are not isolated incidents. These are documented, repeated acts of cruelty reported by animal welfare organisations across the country.

Yet, instead of addressing this violence, the narrative shifts blame onto the most vulnerable.

We Are Not the Problem. Systemic Failure Is.

India already has a law to manage stray dog populations humanely:
The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.

These rules mandate:

• Sterilisation
• Vaccination
• Return of dogs to their original territories

The question must be asked: why is ABC not being implemented correctly?

• Where are the municipal funds allocated for sterilisation going?
• Why are sterilisation centres understaffed, under-equipped, or non-functional?
• Why are NGOs and animal welfare groups doing the government’s job without adequate support?

Punishing dogs for governance failure is neither legal nor moral.

Criminalising Compassion: Attacks on Animal Feeders

Across cities, the people who feed, vaccinate, and sterilise dogs, the very people helping solve the problem, are being harassed, threatened, and attacked.

Animal feeders:

• Are abused by residents
• Face police complaints
• Are assaulted physically
• Are blamed when authorities fail

Yet the Supreme Court and existing laws recognise that feeding is lawful when done responsibly.

Why are those creating stability being targeted, while systems that failed remain unquestioned?

Arbitrary Decisions Will Cost Lives

Any ruling or directive that enables:

• Removal of dogs from territories
• Forced relocation
• Confinement without infrastructure
• Culling - directly or indirectly

…will lead to mass deaths, territorial instability, and increased aggression—not fewer incidents.

Scientific consensus is clear:
You cannot remove dogs to reduce conflict. You can only sterilise and coexist.

We Are Asking the Supreme Court to Pause and Listen

This is a plea from dogs, from caregivers, from veterinarians, from animal lovers, from citizens.

We urge the Honourable Supreme Court to:

• Withdraw arbitrary or reactionary directions
• Re-centre decisions on ABC Rules and science
• Question municipal non-compliance
• Demand accountability for public funds
• Protect animal feeders and welfare workers

Justice must protect the voiceless—not endanger them.

The Real Solution Is Collective Responsibility

We need:

• Governments that implement laws
• Municipal bodies that are accountable
• Citizens who are informed, not afraid
• Animal organisations as partners, not adversaries

Dogs are not outsiders.
They are part of our streets, our ecosystems, our shared responsibility.

What can you do?

• Support humane animal welfare
• Stand against cruelty and misinformation
• Work with animal organisations, not against them
• Choose compassion. Always.

Indicative Sources (for Credibility & Reference)

• Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, Government of India
• Supreme Court of India orders on stray dog management
• Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)
• Humane Society International India
• PETA India
• People For Animals (PFA)
• The Hindu, Indian Express – reports on animal cruelty & feeder harassment