‘Proud vegetarian’ Rupali Ganguly slams troll accusing her of eating meat but speaking for stray dogs

Rupali Ganguly has reacted to the Supreme Court order to pick up all stray dogs in Delhi within eight weeks and house them in dog shelters.

The Supreme Court's order to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR localities has triggered a heated debate online. Actor Rupali Ganguly, who is best known as Anupamaa in the popular Television show, has reacted to the Supreme Court's order to relocate all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters. However, an X user said that she should not advocate for stray dogs when she herself is a non-vegetarian, to which Rupali responded that she will continue to show her support for animal shelter, and is a ‘proud vegetarian.’

Rupali Ganguly in a still from Anupamaa. 

What Rupali said

In a tweet, Rupali said, “In our traditions, dogs guard Bhairav Baba’s temple and are fed on Amavasya for blessings. They’ve grown up on our streets, guarding shops, waiting outside our doors, barking away thieves. If we remove them now, we risk losing our protectors before the real dangers arrive, like silencing an alarm before a fire. Sending them to far-off shelters isn’t kindness, it’s exile. Stray dogs aren’t outsiders; they’re part of our faith, our culture, our safety. Care for them, vaccinate them, feed them and let them live where they belong. #straydogs.”

In response, an X user said, “You cannot advocate for #straydogs when you eat chicken, mutton, beef, fish, etc. Love for animal applies to all animals.”

It further read, "You cannot advocate for strays when you have elite breeds at your home. And the rest who are speaking for strays, visit shelter home daily and feed them,take good care or you can even stay there nobody will stop you. OR Raise funds and make shelter homes for them or adopt 10 strays and ask others to do it, visit families who lost their loved ones due to rabies, watch the news regularly and see how many unprovoked dog bites happen daily, or at least you can do is wait for your family members to get rabies. You will not bark then."

‘I support animal shelters and gaushalas’

This response did not escape Rupali's attention. She reacted to the same, and said, “I feed the homeless animals on a daily basis … every animal I feed has been regularly vaccinated and sterilized…. I support animal shelters and gaushalas … not only in my city but all over India … m a proud vegetarian… and I support the homeless fur babies …. I donot have a single elite breed at home instead have 4 indies …. My child has been with so called stray animals since he was a baby and even an animal who had not known him before has protected him. They understand love and kindness which humans fail to understand. This earth belongs to all.”

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that all localities in NCT Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad should be made free of stray dogs and there should not be any compromise. It also made it clear that no captured animal will be released back on the streets.

Several celebrities, including John Abraham, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Vir Das and Chinmayi have voiced their reactions to the Supreme Court's order through their social media accounts.