New Delhi: After the Supreme Court passed a verdict to relocate all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters, several celebrities took to social media to voice their opposition to the order. Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Chinmayi Sripaada, Varun Grover, Raveena Tandon, and Vir Das have spoken out against the decision.
According to the order, the stray dogs in the capital will be picked up within eight weeks and housed in dedicated shelters to be set up by the concerned authorities.
Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan Share Strongly Worded Petition
Actors Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan re-shared a petition on Instagram, calling attention to the Supreme Court’s order.
Janhvi reposted the petition on her Instagram Stories, strongly criticising the move. The statement read: “They call it a menace. We call it a heartbeat. Today, the Supreme Court says take every stray dog off the streets of Delhi-NCR and lock them away. No sunlight. No freedom. No familiar faces they greet every morning. But these aren’t just stray dogs.”
It added: “They are the ones who wait outside your tea stall for a biscuit. They are the silent night guards for shopkeepers. They are the tails wagging when children return from school. They are the warmth in a cold, uncaring city.”
The note argued that “a society that can’t protect its voiceless is a society losing its soul,” and suggested alternatives such as large-scale sterilisation programmes, vaccination drives, community feeding zones, and adoption campaigns.
Siddharth Anand, Raveena Tandon, Vir Das Also Speak Out
Varun Dhawan also reposted the same petition, while filmmaker Siddharth Anand criticised the order, writing:
“There’s just no compassion left. Who will look after their food there? At least on the streets, there are some empathetic humans who feed these poor souls. They will die of hunger and thirst there, and that’s the death warrant the SC has signed. Please, someone start a petition, and let’s stop this genocide.”
Actor-comedian Vir Das shared photos on X of his own pets adopted from the streets, urging Delhi residents to adopt indie dogs.
“They are extremely healthy, low maintenance, and will provide you with more love, affection, and gratitude than you could ever imagine,” he wrote, also encouraging donations to animal welfare NGOs.
Singer Chinmayi Sripaada called the order “a death sentence for all dogs” and criticised the abandonment of purebred dogs in India after overbreeding.
Dhanashree Verma urged people to adopt strays and contribute generously to shelters so the animals receive at least basic amenities.
Raveena Tandon blamed inefficiencies in sterilisation and vaccination drives by local authorities, arguing that the lack of preventive measures had led to the SC’s decision.
“Where the population of indies has increased, it is honestly not these poor dogs to be blamed. It means the vaccination and sterilisation drives aren’t being done by local bodies,” she told HT City.
SC’s Order
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ordered on Monday that all localities in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad should be made free of stray dogs with no compromise. The SC also stated that no captured animal will be released back onto the streets.
