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's top court ordered authorities in the capital Delhi and its suburbs on Monday to relocate all stray dogs to shelters within eight weeks, according to the Live Law website, after media reports of a rise in cases of rabies,

In Turkey, a 2024 law ordering the removal of all strays ran headlong into a reality check: Municipal shelters could hold only 105,000 dogs in a country with an estimated four million. Reports of neglect and euthanasia soon followed.