India's top court has ordered authorities to remove all stray dogs from the streets and place them in permanent shelters, sparking an uproar from animal-rights groups over the feasibility of a decision some say was made in anger.

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,