Stray Dogs & Safety in India
Aug 14, 2025
From policy to proven solutions
What's Happening in India
In August 2025, following a surge in rabies and bite incidents affecting children in Delhi-NCR, India’s Supreme Court issued a sweeping directive to capture, sterilize, vaccinate, and indefinitely shelter all stray dogs—without returning them to their neighborhoods The Economic Times. The scale was staggering—Delhi alone has between half a million to one million stray dogs—and nearly 2,000 dog bites reportedly occur every day. The Times of India.
Public backlash was immediate. Animal welfare groups, experts, and celebrities critiqued the plan for violating the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules of 2023, which mandate sterilization, vaccination, and release back into original localities—the most humane and sustainable method known Indiatimes.
Within days, the court revised its stance: sterilized and vaccinated dogs should be released back, except those showing aggression or rabies symptoms. The order also called for designated feeding zones to avoid unregulated feeding that can foster roaming packs Reuters.
Viet Nam: A Working Example
Across the region, Viet Nam provides a compelling case study in evidence-based stray dog and rabies control:
The country’s National Program on Rabies Prevention and Control (2022–2030) aims for zero human rabies deaths by 2030, supported by WHO, FAO, and the U.S. CDC under its “One Health, Zero Deaths” initiative World Health Organization
Between 2017–2021, rabies claimed about 76 lives per year, down from earlier figures; ~90% of cases stemmed from infected dogs, particularly in rural areas and among children under 15 Hanoi Times.
Public engagement soared: over 510,000 people sought post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) annually, compared to 400,000 earlier WOAH - Asia.
While national dog vaccination rates reached nearly 50%, some provinces achieved ≥70%, the scientifically proven threshold to break rabies transmission WOAH - Asia.
Strategies included the use of rabies hotspot maps to target vaccination and PEP where needed most, as well as investments in sterilization, waste control, and school-based awareness campaigns.
Solutions That Work
Drawing from Viet Nam’s success and global best practices, here’s an evidence-backed checklist for humane, science-based stray dog management:
Maintain ≥70% vaccination coverage annually to interrupt rabies cycles.
Targeted sterilization, especially of female dogs, to manage population effectively.
Waste management: remove food attractants that sustain roaming packs and exacerbate conflict.
Community engagement: establish safe feeding zones, encourage reporting of unvaccinated or aggressive dogs.
Data transparency: publish public dashboards for vaccination coverage and bite data to inform policy.
How You Can Stand Up for Our Dogs
“Safer streets for people and dogs start with science — not fear.”
Support local vaccination and sterilization drives, ensuring dogs can safely return to neighborhoods.
Share factual, research-based information—counter hysteria with credible insights.
Urge your city officials to publish rabies and stray dog data—visibility drives better decision-making.
Advocate for humane and evidence-based policies, not emotional panic-driven ones.
Adopt if you can
A Compassionate, Research-Driven Path Forward
Balancing public safety and animal welfare is possible—but only with reliable data, targeted vaccination, and proven community-based strategies. Radical, forced removal of dogs risks ecological imbalance and fails to address the root cause of rabies spread. Learning from Viet Nam, and from global “Zero by 30” efforts, we can aim for humane coexistence—and safer, rabies-free communities.
