Gujarat businessman Parag Desai's death in Ahmedabad recently has reignited the debate on the stray dog menace in India. Mr Desai fell while being chased by street dogs during his morning walk. He suffered head injuries and died of a brain haemorrhage days later. Almost every week, dog attack deaths are reported from different parts of the country, each more gruesome than the previous.
The statistics of such deaths are horrific and speak for themselves. India reported nearly 16 million cases of stray dog bites between 2019 and 2022 (parliament data till November 2022), an average of over 10,000 cases daily. The National Rabies Control Programme reported 6,644 clinically suspected cases and deaths of human rabies between 2012 and 2022 in India. Between January and October 2022, Kerala and Punjab reported over 10,000 cases each, while 1,000-10,000 cases were reported from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Kashmir. About 200 dog bites were reported every day from Ahmedabad in 2019.
These figures speak poorly of India as it strives to be a developed nation. When developed countries have been able to control the stray menace, what stops us?
In India, it is illegal to remove stray dogs from the streets and they cannot be driven away either. Stray dogs continue to remain on the roads until they are adopted, which is rare. This creates a perfect environment for the problem to grow and flourish. The Animal Birth Control Program 2001, introduced by the government with the aim of controlling stray dogs through sterilisation and vaccination, has failed because of poor implementation. Local municipal corporations and NGOs tasked with carrying out sterilisations cite lack of funds and resources, corruption, and lack of coordination between government agencies.
"It is the duty of municipalities under the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, to run an effective dog sterilisation programme. Sterilisations are simple surgeries that prevent births. Getting dogs sterilised has been a requirement for 22 years, previously mandated under the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2001, which has now been replaced by Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. If all municipalities had taken this lawful duty seriously, there would hardly be any dogs on the road today," says Meet Ashar, Cruelty Case Division Legal Advisor and Manager, PETA India.
India has a love-hate relationship with stray dogs. On the one hand, countless people feed strays as an act of kindness, and on the other, there is a rising number of human lives lost to stray dog bites. Disposal of waste in the open attracts stray dogs at times, leaving them hungry - or only partly sated - and aggressive. The absence of waste management to address open litter on roads is another contributor.
The pandemic appears to have impacted the stray population too, turning them more feral than before. Animal experts say that post-pandemic, stray dogs are seen to have become more aggressive due to food shortages, the abandonment of pets, and a decrease in human-dog interactions. Dogs being fed in the same area makes them insecure about their space and intensely territorial. It becomes the duty of the dog feeder to ensure that the stray is vaccinated.
The horrifying videos of dog bite incidents that go viral on social media include calls for strong action to curb the menace. Reports have often surfaced of the face-off between animal lovers and those opposing their activities in public spaces.
A tweet by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra after the Parag Desai incident drew support as well as outrage. "Carry a stick to keep safe from stray dogs on morning walks. If there are dog lover activists in your area, carry a bigger stick," he wrote.
Facing a backlash, he said, "I'm not in any way advocating violence, my only concern is no one should fall prey to dog bites. When one goes out for a walk, one is compelled to carry the stick for self-defence. Nobody goes out for a walk with the intention of hurting the dog. Dog lover-activists must understand and acknowledge that stray dogs are a problem".
India accounts for 36 per cent of the world's rabies deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). "Most children and elderly people bitten by strays are from the lower income group - they cannot afford expensive rabies vaccines and eventually die. Isn't that sad? So many people have liked the tweet, it shows they too are facing the stray menace," Mr Bothra remarked.
Recently, the Supreme Court talked about a durable and humane solution to human-stray dog conflicts in the context of Kerala. In response to the Kerala government's proposal to cull "aggressive and rabid" dogs, animal activists argued that addressing the root causes of the problem is crucial.
"Sterilisation and supporting dog feeders who turn dogs trusting and friendly are the only humane, legal and effective options to stem India's stray animal crisis," explained Mr Ashar.
According to one estimate, he said, one unaltered dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years. "A robust and effective sterilisation programme can help prevent this as stray dogs are surgically neutered and then released back in the same area from which they were picked up, as dogs are territorial in nature. Sterilised dogs are also vaccinated against rabies," he said.
However, insiders demur. "Stray dogs are released on the roads without vaccination. Their ears are pierced (a permanent identification mark showing that a stray has been sterilised) without the process being actually carried out," an official said.
As in many other areas of public service, in animal control too, the problem is not the lack of policies but the inefficient execution of sterilisation programmes that have resulted in the failure to control the stray dog boom in our country. With each fatal dog bite, there is an uproar but those responsible for managing the menace always fail to take ownership.
(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist).
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.