Ritika Sajdeh, the wife of Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma, has publicly challenged the Supreme Court’s recent order to seize and take to shelters all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR. Ritika Sajdeh appealed for long-term remedies including sterilisation, immunisation, and adoption drives on social media, characterising the decision as the removal of an animal community.
The bench of the Supreme Court, which includes Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, recently directed civic authorities to remove stray dogs from all Delhi-NCR neighbourhoods without compromising. The canines must not be returned to the streets after being apprehended. In order to guarantee adherence to the directive, the order also requires the establishment of sufficient shelters, sterilisation and immunisation facilities, a helpline for dog-bite reports (with a four-hour response window), and CCTV monitoring.
Citing public safety concerns, the move has sparked a national controversy with strong reactions from public personalities, campaigners, and animal lovers. Ritika Sajdeh, who owns a dog herself, discussed the part stray dogs play in Indian cities’ everyday lives on Instagram.
They refer to it as a threat. We refer to it as a heartbeat. The Supreme Court ruled today that all stray dogs should be removed from Delhi-NCR’s streets and imprisoned. No sun. No liberty. They don’t recognise the faces they greet each morning. These aren’t merely stray canines, though. They are the ones who wait for a biscuit outside your tea stall. They are the shops’ silent night watchmen. When kids get home from school, they are the ones who are wagging their tails. Ritika Sajdeh wrote, “They are the warmth in a cold, heartless city.”
It’s the dogs today. Who will it be tomorrow? Ritika Sajdeh
She argued that the decision to keep all strays in shelters deprives them of independence, sunlight, and the people they have known for years. She acknowledged the public safety and dog bite issues, but she underlined that removal was not the answer. Rather, she called for doable solutions, such as widespread sterilisation initiatives to curb population increase, frequent vaccination efforts to protect the public, communal feeding areas to foster harmony, and adoption drives to provide homes for stray animals.
“Yes, there are issues, such as bites and safety worries, but putting a whole animal society in captivity is not a solution; rather, it is erasure. The actual solution? Adoption efforts, communal feeding zones, frequent immunisation pushes, and extensive sterilisation programs. Not discipline. Not incarceration. A society is losing its soul if it is unable to defend its voiceless members. It’s the dogs today. Who will it be tomorrow? Speak up. due to the fact that they lack one. Share this, please,” Ritika Sajdeh continued.
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