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.

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,