Nationwide candlelight vigils after alleged killings of dogs; citizens seek SC clarification

Citizens and animal welfare groups across the country held silent candlelight vigils following reports of alleged killings and illegal removal of community dogs in several states, raising concerns over the misuse of judicial observations, an official statement of NGO People For Animals (PFA) said on Monday.

Animal welfare groups have urged the Supreme Court to issue urgent clarification to prevent further alleged misuse of its observations and ensure accountability.

The immediate reason was an alleged incident on January 14 in Telangana, where around 500 community dogs were allegedly killed by lethal injection.

Animal welfare groups said the dogs were neither diseased nor aggressive, and many were sterilised and vaccinated under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.

Earlier, on January 9, about 40 sterilised community dogs were allegedly removed from a law school campus in Hyderabad without public notice. Subsequent reports indicated that the dogs were killed, prompting questions over authority and due process.

Similar incidents have been reported since November 2025 in several states.

In Tamil Nadu, dogs were allegedly shot dead during preparations for a VIP visit in Chennai. In Delhi, newborn puppies were removed from a university campus in Dwarka, while in Karnataka, vaccinated dogs were reportedly picked up overnight from a campus in Udupi, it said.

In Telangana, activists have flagged large-scale pick-ups beyond the capacity of ABC facilities, the statement said.

Candlelight vigils were held in Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Delhi and adjoining areas such as Noida and Gurugram, as well as in Lucknow, Jaipur, Agra, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune and Indore. Participants have also joined from Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat and overseas from Kildare in Ireland and Boston in the US.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)