Needed a dogged pursuit to tackle stray menace

The statistics are spine-chilling and make for a bizarre reading. On this count, the observations made by the Supreme Court are bang on. India reported over 37.17 lakh dog bite cases in 2024, which showed a significant spike in 2025 at a 50 per cent increase in monthly cases compared to the previous year. To make matters more dreadful, official records showed 54 deaths due to rabies, which was put at 5,700 deaths annually by ICMR. Incidentally, the figures vary with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recording 37,17,336 dog bite cases across the country in 2024 and around 26 lakh cases till July 2025.

The World Health Organization (WHO) figures reveal that India accounts for 36 per cent of global rabies deaths at around 20,000 annually. Shell-shocked at the statistics, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Tuesday expressed surprise at the sheer volume of interlocutory applications being filed in its suo motu case concerning stray dogs, observing that “so many applications normally don’t even come in cases of humans”. It is quite true as the number of dog bite incidents has emerged as a significant public health challenge, with figures showing an alarming rise since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Going deeper into the issue, many are wondering why stray dogs tend to turn aggressive. Some of those into the subject attribute this to urban chaos, shrinking space and human cruelty, which includes hurling stones and attacking them with sticks. Thus provoked, the animal, as a natural fearful reaction, retaliates. The most vulnerable are children, which give rise to instances of deaths due to rabies. Hence, the massive clamour for sterilising stray dogs, vaccinating and keeping them confined on city outskirts.

The apex court has rightly pointed an accusing finger at civic authorities. In a telling direction, which seemed like the final warning, the bench opined that people were dying not only due to dog bites but also because of road accidents caused by strays. This is what has been happening although the accidents so caused are hardly written about. “The roads should be clear of dogs and stray animals. It is not only the dog bites but also the roaming of stray animals on roads that are proving dangerous and causing accidents. No one knows which dog is in what mood in the morning. Civic bodies must implement the rules, modules and directions strictly,” the bench said.

One should appreciate the Supreme Court’s intervention as a form of balancing public safety and animal welfare, as the toll is quite worrisome. The bench wanted strict enforcement of rules, regulations, modules and standard operating procedures by states and civic bodies. In the same vein, it noted that “Some states (Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab) have not responded to compliance with our orders and implementation of the arguments. We will be very harsh with those states. All the rules, regulations and SOPs need to be followed.”

That is perhaps the best manner to bring an orderly approach to the problem. Even more important is that the authorities must not only think of tackling dog bite instances but also relocate the strays, perhaps in the outskirts of cities. It is a different matter altogether that today’s outskirts will be tomorrow’s heart of the city if one goes by the manner the city’s limits have been spreading. The municipal bodies have their task cut out in this regard.