Bengaluru: The Supreme Court’s directive to remove stray dogs from public spaces has put the state govt in a tight spot: how to execute the mammoth task of handling over 4.5 lakh stray dogs in urban local body (ULB) jurisdictions across the state?The issue came up for discussion Saturday at a meeting of senior officials, led by chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh, given the recent spike in stray dog attacks in Bengaluru, which is home to over 2 lakh such dogs. The officials brainstormed over the factors that have contributed to the spurt in stray canine population and the measures required to contain the problem. The city’s stray population thrives on good food and weather, leading to year-round breeding, said Dr Akshay Prakash, veterinary doctor and founder of Sarvodaya Sevabhavi Samstha, one of Karnataka’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) partners. “Stray dogs in the city breed throughout the year, producing litters of 6-8 puppies. The availability of good food and favourable weather have kept the population healthy and strong, leading to prolific breeding. In other parts of the country, breeding occurs mainly during periods of extreme heat and extreme cold, resulting in smaller puppy populations,” he explained.Abandoned dogsPet owners who leave the city often abandon their dogs because they cannot afford to take them abroad. Construction workers migrating from nearby states also contribute to the problem. They bring one or two puppies with them to Bengaluru, but by the time the building work is completed, the puppies grow too large to transport and are left on the road. Currently, there are only five registered ABC vendors in Karnataka. “It is impossible for them to manage ABC centres everywhere in the state. In many places, dogs are not vaccinated or neutered. They grow in number,” said Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, founder of CJ Memorial Trust, an animal welfare NGO, adding that shutting down existing ABC partners doesn’t help.Laavanya Koushik, a lawyer and public policy consultant with the Federation of Animal Protection Organisations, pointed out that new land acquisition for ABC centres and construction of kennels or operation theatres haven’t yet taken place.“Panchayats need funding support, but are not being covered,” added Laavanya. As per official data, Bengaluru Urban has logged 40 rabies deaths and 58,600 dogbite cases since 2021.
