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

Several politicians and celebrities, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, actors Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan, and filmmaker Siddharth Anand have expressed their disapproval of the order.