Does India have a stray dog epidemic?

India’s Supreme Court successful aboriginal August issued a melodramatic bid calling for the removal of each stray dogs from the streets of the nationalist capital, prompting outrage from carnal rights activists.

Days later, the country’s apical tribunal amended that bid aft a larger seat of judges looked astatine the case, efficaciously allowing municipal authorities to instrumentality astir strays to the neighbourhoods they were picked up from aft being sterilised and vaccinated.

But portion the revised bid has calmed immoderate of the passions that erupted implicit the archetypal verdict, the court’s interventions person besides acceptable disconnected a broader statement successful India implicit dogs connected the country’s streets, the menace they airs and however champion to woody with them.

So what were the tribunal orders each about, what was the trigger, however large of a occupation are India’s stray dogs – and however galore specified dogs does the state person successful the archetypal place?

Rescued dogs are kept wrong cages astatine Friendicoes SECA, a section carnal payment NGO successful New Delhi, India, connected August 12, 2025 [Bhawika Chhabra/Reuters]

What did the Supreme Court order?

On August 11, a Supreme Court seat of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed the Delhi authorities and section bodies to instantly commence the removal of stray dogs from each localities successful the National Capital Region – including the metropolis of New Delhi and its suburban cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad.

The court’s orders required authorities to “start picking up stray dogs from each localities” and “relocate these dogs into designated shelters/pounds”, with the stipulation that they would not beryllium released backmost into nationalist spaces again.

The ruling drew disapproval from carnal rights activists who questioned whether section governments had the infrastructure and resources needed to execute the order, amid worries that it could pb to acts of cruelty towards the dogs.

Some experts besides pointed retired that the Supreme Court bid mightiness basal successful usurpation of India’s Animal Birth Control Rules, introduced successful 2023. Those rules were framed to power stray canine populations humanely, done a argumentation of capturing, sterilising, vaccinating and past releasing them. But the August 11 bid barred their merchandise onto the streets of Delhi.

Eventually, amid protests, a caller three-judge seat heard the lawsuit again, connected August 22 and modified the earlier order. “The dogs that are picked up shall beryllium sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated, and released backmost to the aforesaid country from which they were picked up,” the tribunal said, staying successful enactment with the commencement power rules.

However, the tribunal clarified that the merchandise aft seizure would not “apply to the dogs infected with rabies oregon suspected to beryllium infected with rabies, and those that show assertive behaviour”.

Further, the tribunal ordered the instauration of dedicated feeding spaces for stray dogs successful each municipal ward, making it wide that feeding dogs connected the streets would present beryllium prohibited.

And the tribunal asked different states and federally governed territories to besides articulation the lawsuit arsenic parties – successful effect, mounting the signifier for the order, presently restricted to the superior and its surrounding areas, to go a nationwide law.

A pistillate holds a canine during a protestation against the initial, August 11, 2025, Supreme Court order, successful Chennai, India, connected August 17, 2025 [Riya Mariyam R/Reuters]

Does India person a canine wound crisis?

The Supreme Court took connected the lawsuit due to the fact that of concerns implicit an expanding fig of canine wound cases successful the country.

According to the national Ministry of Health data, the state recorded 2,189,909 canine wound cases successful 2022, a fig that roseate to 3,052,521 cases successful 2023, and to 3,715,713 cases successful 2024.

Dog bites, akin to bites from different animals, tin transmit the rabies microorganism to humans. When near untreated, it manifests arsenic either furious oregon paralytic rabies, some of which are astir ever fatal erstwhile symptoms develop. In India, canine bites relationship for 99 percent of rabies fatalities.

Federal Health Ministry information shows that India recorded 21, 50, and 54 rabies-induced quality deaths, respectively, successful the past 3 years. But experts question those numbers.

While national information shows that the confederate authorities of Kerala recorded 0,1, and 3 rabies-induced deaths successful 2022, 2023 and 2024, the state’s wellness authorities themselves accidental that Kerala had 15, 17 and 22 deaths respectively, successful those years. And a caller Lancet survey estimated 5,726 quality rabies deaths occurring annually successful India.

That excessively is simply a blimpish estimate, according to Omesh Bharti, lawman manager and epidemiologist astatine the bluish Himachal Pradesh state’s wellness department. “I deliberation it is person to the 10,000 mark,” Bharti said. “In the past 10 years, canine wound cases person accrued 10 times. At the aforesaid time, deaths person reduced arsenic well,” helium added, due to the fact that of the accrued prevalence of the rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin, which provides contiguous short-term extortion from rabies aft imaginable exposure.

India contributes 36 percent of planetary rabies deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A stray canine rests connected sacks of atom crops successful a atom marketplace successful Karnal successful the bluish authorities of Haryana, India, October 15, 2024 [Bhawika Chhabra/Reuters]

Does India person a dog-counting problem?

Nishant Kumar, caput of Thinkpaws, a New Delhi-based deliberation vessel whose probe focuses connected the enactment betwixt people, animals and discarded systems, said that stray dogs signifier territorial packs.

“Bonded dogs larn to discriminate betwixt acquainted feeders and unfamiliar strangers, resulting successful strategical aggression similar barking oregon chasing to defender their streets,” helium said.

“The contented arises erstwhile humans adjusted to dogs from 1 portion of the metropolis conscionable dogs successful caller locations, specified arsenic rickshaw pullers and transportation boys,” helium added.

But questions linger implicit whether Delhi and India adjacent person an close number of their stray canine populations.

The 2019 Livestock Census conducted by the Indian government’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying – the astir caller nationwide stray canine number – recovered that India housed 15 cardinal stray dogs, with Delhi accounting for 55,462 of them.

But the government’s ain information besides showed that Delhi recorded 45,052 wound cases successful 2019 – a precise precocious fig of wound cases erstwhile compared with the estimated population, raising doubts astir the prime of the information successful question.

An unpublished survey by Thinkpaws, meanwhile, assessed the canine density of the nationalist superior portion astatine astir 550 dogs per quadrate kilometre. When extrapolated crossed Delhi, that suggests an estimated colonisation of 825,313 stray dogs – astir 15 times the 2019 census data.

The 2024 Livestock Census was expected to beryllium completed connected March 31, but has been delayed.

Stray dogs on a roadworthy successful Thimpu, Bhutan [File: Kuni Takahashi/AP Photo]

How did Bhutan execute 100 percent sterilisation?

The ruling by India’s apical tribunal has besides prompted questions implicit whether each stray dogs tin realistically beryllium sterilised. While it is simply a tiny state by comparison, Bhutan has shown that it tin beryllium done.

In 2023, the Himalayan nation, sandwiched betwixt India and China, became the archetypal state successful the satellite to execute 100 percent sterilisation of its stray canine population. The state besides vaccinated 90 percent of its 1,10,000-strong stray canine colonisation successful conscionable 2 years – that’s much than the 70 percent vaccination levels needed to support herd immunity successful the lawsuit of diseases similar rabies.

Kinley Dorji, veterinary superintendent astatine the National Veterinary Hospital, Bhutan, who besides led these efforts, said what worked was a “whole of nation” attack and the time-bound quality of the programme, which was pushed by the country’s king.

“Because the bid came from our king, everybody cooperated. It was not conscionable near to the livestock section oregon the municipality. Everybody from the equipped forces and volunteers from De-suung [Bhutan’s nationalist work programme] to the farmers participated,” Dorji said.

The programme was executed successful 3 phases. “Nationwide sterilisation took conscionable 2 weeks. Subsequently, the mopping signifier began, targeting the dogs that had been missed during the nationwide phase. The last combing signifier took america a fewer months, arsenic we spent a batch of clip capturing the remaining elusive dogs,” Dorji said.

The squad utilized oral sedation, trapping and darts. Only successful the heavy populated Thimphu did they person to acceptable up abstracted shelters for problematic dogs that were biting people. All the different dogs were released backmost to the aforesaid country from which they were picked up.

The programme, which began successful August 2021, was unopen successful October 2023, erstwhile the state achieved 100 percent stray canine sterilisation. Bhutan spent 305 cardinal ngultrum ($3.5m) and employed 13,000 radical during the programme.

Activists clasp placards during a protestation against the August 11, 2025, ruling by the country’s apical tribunal ordering authorities successful New Delhi to region each stray dogs from the streets and to sterilise and permanently relocate them to shelters, Thursday, August 14, 2025 [Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo]

What does the aboriginal look similar for stray canine absorption successful India?

India, by comparison, has a agelong mode to go, accidental experts.

Bharti, the Himachal Pradesh epidemiologist, who deals with canine wound victims regularly, says the Supreme Court ruling highlights the nonaccomplishment of section governments and nonprofits crossed the country.

“They person failed to support the citizens, and they person failed to sterilise and immunise these dogs,” helium said.

Meghna Uniyal, manager astatine the Humane Foundation for People and Animals, a nonprofit, welcomed the latest directives from the country’s apical court. “We person waited 2 years for this,” Uniyal said. “Public feeding is present banned, and biting dogs are to beryllium taken disconnected the streets.”

But concerns astir human-dog struggle won’t vanish successful India anytime soon, said Kumar of Thinkpaws.

What’s needed, helium said, is simply a semipermanent plan, including shelter-based quarantine for dogs that are known to beryllium carrying diseases oregon that bite, vaccination of dogs, adoption of strays and mechanisms to trim the signifier of dogs eating from unfastened rubbish dumps.

Anything less, helium said, “is misguided compassion”.