India, Aug. 14 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening issued a detailed written order of its August 11 verdict, expanding on earlier oral directions and setting out stringent safeguards for the welfare of captured stray dogs - stressing that at no stage should the animals be subjected to mistreatment, cruelty, overcrowding, starvation, or neglect.

The release of the detailed order coincided with the transfer of the suo motu case on the stray dog menace from the bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan to a new three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath.

Reiterating that all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) must be rounded up and housed in shelters "at the earliest," the court prohibited the release of...