India’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of all stray dogs that were removed from New Delhi streets after sterilization and immunization following an increase in the number of people who were bitten by dogs.

In its decision on the case titled “In Re: City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price,” the court ruled that sterilized, dewormed, and vaccinated dogs should be returned to their original areas. However, it specified that dogs with rabies or those that exhibit aggressive behavior should not be released.

Street dogs are a fixture of nearly every neighbourhood in Delhi, in most cases fed and cared for by residents. So when a child’s apparent rabies death sparked a court order that all dogs must be rounded up and confined to non-existent ‘shelters’,