Laws such as the PCA Act, 1960, and the ABC Rules, 2023, form the cornerstone of dog protection in India. These rules ban the killing of healthy stray dogs, allowing euthanasia only in cases where a vet confirms a dog is terminally sick or mortally injured.

The Supreme Court's recent directive to relocate stray dogs in Delhi-NCR within eight weeks has stirred controversy and backlash from animal rights activists and NGOs.

In cities across the country, the feral animals are both loved and feared. The judges are forging into intensely emotional territory by going after the ones in the capital.