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.

India accounts for a third of the world's rabies deaths due to the large number of dogs with this disease roaming the streets and potentially biting citizens. Among the piles of waste and contaminated drains in the neighborhoods of New Delhi,

India's top court has ordered authorities to remove all stray dogs from the streets and place them in permanent shelters, sparking an uproar from animal-rights groups over the feasibility of a decision some say was made in anger.