India’s Stray Dog Crisis: A Nation Held Hostage by Neglect, Fear, and Misplaced Compassion; When Protecting Dogs Costs Human Lives

I ndia’s roads, parks, and market places have turned into contested spaces not between citizens and enemies, but between citizens and the animals they once called man’s best friend. For decades, policy makers have watched from the sidelines as the population of stray dogs spiraled out of control, brushing off the crisis as someone else’s responsibility. Animal-welfare activists demanded compassion; municipal bodies complained of resource constraints; and both state and central governments exchanged blame while the public paid the price in fear, blood, and billions of rupees in health costs. The Supreme Court’s recent intervention, ordering sterilization, relocation, and removal of strays from public spaces, is not merely judicial activism it’s a desperate call to action in a nation paral