According to Reuters, the Supreme Court of India decided this Monday to require official authorities in New Delhi, the capital of India, to transfer stray dogs from the streets to animal shelters within eight weeks.
According to Reuters, there are currently about 52.5 million stray dogs in India, but only about 8 million of them are in animal shelters. In the Indian capital, New Delhi, local media claim that the number of stray dogs may be as high as 1 million.
This directly leads the Indian public — especially children — to live in fear of being bitten by dogs and contracting rabies.
Data from the Government of India show that in January of this year alone, there were 430,000 dog bites across India. Last year India reported as many as 3.7 million stray dog bites.
The Supreme Court of India has also highlighted the safety of children in its ruling that the official in New Delhi must deal with stray dogs as soon as possible, stating that India should do everything in its power to protect children from rabies and to address the public ' s fear of being bitten by dogs to keep children out of the house.
However, Reuters also stated that animal protection groups had objected to the decision of the Indian Supreme Court on the grounds that there were not many animal shelters in India to accommodate such a large group of stray dogs. Increased rabies vaccination coverage and sterilisation of stray dogs are considered a more humane solution.