India, Jan. 12 -- It is quite the irony that while Aloka - the Indian stray dog adopted by a band of Buddhists monks - is being cheered worldwide for walking thousands of miles in the US alongside the monks in their march for global peace, his counterparts in India are being subjected to cruelty by the very institutions that should protect them.

Over the past few months, the Supreme Court has taken a keen interest towards managing the so-called menace caused by stray dogs in India. The Court has issued a slew of directions that are not only inhumane, unscientific, and non-implementable, but also defeat existing legislation on the matter, viz. the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules framed thereun...