The Dog Problem in Karanataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi

The Dog Problem in Karanataka

The dog census in all wards in Bangalore in 2019 estimated the stray dog population at 3.09 lakh, of which around 54% are neutered. 

It was in 2000 that the city’s civic body launched the birth control programme, touting it as a long-term solution to the stray dog menace. The programme calls for the systematic neutering of strays. Over two decades later, Bruat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials said that the civic body is fighting an uphill battle against nature.

“Dogs have two annual breeding cycles, with pregnancy lasting 60-62 days, and they give birth to six to eight puppies per cycle. Of this, half of them are usually female. Within 10 to 12 months, the puppies reach maturity and start reproducing on their own. The rate of reproduction is rapid and the birth control programme can only slowly take effect,” admitted an official.

Rabies in Uttar Pradesh

In a 2005 study, one third of the national rabies deaths were found in Uttar Pradesh (the national number was estimated at 12,700 for furious type of rabies cases, and other studies mentioned a figure of 20,000 for all types of rabies cases in humans in India).

Dog bites affect over 27 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh every year. As per a rough estimate, not less than 100 people are bitten by dogs in each district every day.

The killing of more than a dozen children by feral dogs in Sitapur in back-to-back incidents in 2018, brought the problem to the fore in its worst form.

Dog Bites in Delhi

Over the past six months, the number of dog bites in the Indian capital has increased dramatically. Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia, two referral hospitals for rabies in Delhi, reported 29,698 and 18,183 cases respectively, almost as many as in all of 2022, when there were 51,000 cases. This data is incomplete and does not take into account visits to other facilities or private clinics. 

In 2019, The Delhi government reported an “acute shortage” of rabies vaccines in its government-run hospitals. The Ram Manohar Lohia hospital reported 1,000 patients queuing for vaccines on a particular June day, compared to its usual 200 patients daily. 

In view of the increasing dog bite incidents in the city, Directorate of Education of Delhi has issued a circular directing schools to create awareness about rabies among students.