India, May 20 -- On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court rejected pleas filed by animal lovers seeking a stay on its order directing the removal of stray dogs from public spaces. It also said non-compliance would make officials of municipal bodies and state governments liable for contempt. Reacting to the development, former Union Minister and animal rights advocate Maneka Gandhi says, "Finally the Supreme Court has conceded defeat. Of course, they're not going to say they are defeated. They're just going to say, 'We are closing the case. Now you go and fight it out in the 36 high courts'. The Supreme Court, however, has acknowledged it can't do anything" She explains, "Not one thing (out of the five) has been done in seven months. No new ABCs, no training for NGOs, no infrastructure support." Gandhi adds that even in Delhi, "not one school or college has removed its dogs": "They said remove them and put them into shelters. But there are no shelters. You take out dogs from anywhere, where will you put them? These are non-doable orders, and nobody has followed them." The immediate and only step needed, she says is building ABC centres: "If you have enough ABCs and train NGOs, you don't even need shelters."...