India’s top court has ordered authorities in New Delhi to start removing all stray dogs from its streets and to sterilize and relocate them to shelters permanently.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, meanwhile, said the “stray dog menace” had assumed “gigantic proportions” and assured that her government would bring in a policy soon.

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,