Man vs Strays: Why do street dogs attack and who is responsible for it?

India has a biting problem at hand. In the latest incident of dog attacks in the country, a seven-month-old, who was mauled by a stray in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, died on Tuesday.

The toddler’s intestines were reportedly pulled out by the animal. The child was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital and underwent surgery. But it succumbed to its injuries.

The parents of the infant are labourers and were engaged in construction work when the attack took place at Lotus Boulevard Society of Sector 100 in Noida.

“The child was mauled by a stray dog on Monday evening. He was admitted to a private hospital where doctors operated on him. Unfortunately, we lost the child late last night,” Dharam Vir Yadav, a representative of the society’s residents group, was quoted as saying by PTI.

The death has triggered protests with residents accusing civic authorities of not acting on complaints against dogs who threatened their safety.

The residents of a housing society in Noida’s Sector 100 protest and block roads.

A 1-year-old child of the same housing society died yesterday after he was bitten by a stray dog. pic.twitter.com/80nRMO4uVd

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) October 18, 2022

The incident once again throws the spotlight on stray dogs, which have long been a subject of debate in India.

The population problem

In the last seven years, the number of street dogs has declined from 1.71 crore in 2012 to 1.53 crore in 2019, according to figures tabled in Lok Sabha in August by Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala. With 18 lakh lesser strays, there has been a 10 per cent drop in population. However, some independent studies estimate that the number of strays in India is as high as 6.2 crore.

Uttar Pradesh has the most number of strays with a population of 20.59 lakh, followed by Odisha (17.34 lakh) and Maharashtra (12.76) lakh. UP had 41.79 lakh in 2012; the numbers have reduced by half.

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep did not have a single dog on the streets, according to the 2019 Livestock Census. The same is the case for Dadra & Nagar Haveli Haveli and Manipur.

There was a 2.6 lakh increase in the street dog population in Karnataka since 2012, the highest in any state.

Dog attacks

Since 2019, India has recorded over 1.5 crore dog bite cases. Uttar Pradesh, which has the most number of strays, has witnessed the most incidents with 27.52 lakh cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (20.7 lakh) and Maharashtra (15.75 lakh).

Kerala, which witnessed the death of three children because of attacks by strays, has seen 21 rabies deaths and 1.9 lakh cases of dog bites in 2022. Last year, the state recorded 2.21 lakh cases.

Kerala does not fall in the top 15 states when it comes to the street dog population. Yet, it reports the sixth-highest number of dog bites in the country, reports ThePrint.

In 2016, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that dog bites in Mumbai had killed more people in 20 years than the two terror attacks, the serial blasts in 1993 and the 26/11 attack in 2008. According to the civic body, 434 people died from rabies transmitted by dogs between 1994 and 2015. The two attacks killed 422 people. More than 13 lakh people had been bitten by dogs in the city during the same period, according to a BBC report.

However, not all dog attacks can be blamed on strays. In the last few months, we have seen several instances of breeds like the pit bull attacking residents in housing societies.

In 2015, a study conducted by a Kerala hospital showed that 75 per cent of patients were bitten by pets. A 2013 study in 13 schools in Tamil Nadu also found that pets accounted for more than half of the dog bites suffered by students.

The reason strays attack

While the dog is dubbed as “man’s best friend”, India’s relationship with dogs, especially strays, is patchy. “Several street dogs are those that have been abandoned by their owners. There is improper waste disposal, inadequate sterilisation and vaccination programmes,” Sally Varma, a Kerala-based animal rights advocate, told ThePrint.

Stray dogs may be rabid, sick, hurt, hungry, abused, scared, traumatised, anxious, or protecting their puppies. Such animals may attack if provoked or feel a threat.

Keren Nazareth, the director of the Street Dog Program at Humane Society International/India, told The Indian Express that is not possible to determine why a dog bites. “In the case of a street dog, factors that could lead up to a bite are even harder to infer. Their lives are fraught with challenges…The ones who survive and become adults, go through multiple experiences that may include assault, abuse, lack of food, water etc.,” adding that data suggests most dog bites happen to children below the age of six years and senior citizens, who are most “vulnerable”.

“The Indian street dog has evolved into a hardy species battling an unforgiving environment, both intolerant and loving humans, and the vagaries of nature. Their ability to thrive in great numbers in the most trying of conditions has resulted in a problem of plenty,” animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi told BBC.

Stopping the attacks

A robust sterilisation programme and vaccination drive are needed for India’s stray dogs. A spaying programme will help control the population.

In 2001, the Centre passed the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules to reduce their population but the proposals were not implemented properly. On 31 July 2022, the Centre released the draft Animal Birth Control Rules, 2022 with detailed guidelines for monitoring dog welfare programmes. They also aim to reduce human-animal conflict by specifying how dogs are to be fed and how disputes regarding dog bites must be resolved.

Sonya Ghosh, founder and trustee of Delhi-based organisation Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals, told Scroll.in that under the new rules, animal birth control is geographically segmented. Under the rules, 70 per cent of dogs in a specified area must be sterilised before a new area is taken up. “This was not happening till now and dogs kept on reproducing,” Ghosh said.

In May, the Supreme Court said that community dogs can be fed either at private driveways/porches or spots designated in consultation with resident welfare associations. The Delhi High Court had earlier said areas for feeding strays must be designated keeping in mind that “every community dog is a territorial being and therefore, community dogs must be fed and tended to at places within their territory”.

Dr Sameer Sahay, a veterinary officer in Ranchi, told The Times of India, after increased dog attacks during the lockdown, “Stray dogs always fight among themselves for food, but they do not attack humans if food is available in sufficient quantity. But when food is scarce, they become agitated and attack people.”

The responsibility of strays

According to Animal Birth Control Rules, 2022, a helpline for dog bites or rabid dogs should be set up. The organisation responsible for birth control programmes or a veterinary officer deployed by local authorities will be responsible for recording and resolving these complaints. They will have to follow the procedure – of contacting a government hospital, capturing the dog, and so on – as set out in the rules, reports Scroll.in.

In September, the Supreme Court suggested that people who routinely feed stray dogs could be made responsible for their vaccination and also liable to bear the costs if those animals attack people while emphasising the need to find a solution to the stray dog menace.

While hearing a petition about street dogs in Kerala, Justice Sanjiv Khanna orally observed that he is a dog lover and there are many dog lovers and suggested that people who feed stray dogs could possibly keep a number or marking on the dog they feed. “They will be responsible for vaccinating them and bearing the cost if a person is attacked,” he said.

The culling of strays

The killing of dogs has been banned in India since 2001. The Supreme Court suspended a 2008 Mumbai high court order allowing municipal authorises to kill dogs that were “creating a nuisance”.

According to ThePrint, in 2015, a three-member committee headed by former Kerala High Court judge Justice SS Jagan submitted a report to the apex court on the dog menace in the state. Over one lakh people were reportedly bitten by strays that year.

In September, the Kerala government approached the Supreme Court to permit the “culling of violent and vicious stray dogs, particularly those suspected of having contracted rabies”.

While stray dog attacks are a problem, the top court said this September that a balance needs to be found between kindness toward animals and protecting people.

With inputs from agencies

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