Oh Dog! Why canine attacks are on the rise in India

Is ‘man’s best friend’ becoming his enemy? Recent incidents of stray dogs attacking and killing people, especially children, have rocked India. Amid many such cases coming to light, a survey by community social media platform LocalCircles has revealed that the majority of respondents believe that stray or pet dog attacks have become common in their area, district or city.

This shows a 31 per cent surge from last year when 61 per cent of those surveyed had said that such attacks are common. Let’s take a look at what the latest survey has found, the statistics, recent incidents and why it is happening.

Are dog attacks rising in India?

The survey carried out by LocalCircles includes more than 53,000 responses from people in 326 districts across the country. Out of this, 67 per cent of those surveyed were men, while 33 per cent were women.

Around 44 per cent of the respondents belonged to Tier 1 districts, 34 per cent from Tier 2 and 22 per cent respondents from Tier 3 and 4.

As many as 82 per cent of the 13,590 respondents said that attacks by stray or pet dogs are an issue in their area, city or district.

“Do owners of pet dogs in your area effectively restrain or train them so that they don’t cause harm to others?” This question received 13,469 responses, with only 33 per cent saying that dog owners effectively restrain and train their pets, while 27 per cent said the owners are ineffective.

Is municipal authority helpful?

The survey also asked people if the municipal authority in their areas has effectively managed the stray dogs. To this, almost 8 out of 10 respondents replied in the negative, claiming the local body has been ineffective in managing both stray dogs and registration of pet dogs.

Just as the last year’s survey, only 10 per cent of citizens expressed faith in the work of civic authorities.

When asked if the Centre, under its Swachh Bharat programme, should “provide funding for stray animal management and make it a key performance ranking criterion”, 71 per cent supported the idea.

Around 23 per cent did not want stray animal management to be a part of Swachh Bharat rankings and 6 per cent were unsure about it.

ALSO READ: Mutt Menace: Do we need stricter norms to deal with the rise in attacks by pet dogs?

India’s dog population

According to the State of Pet Homelessness Index data, India has around 6.2 crore stray dogs and 91 lakh street cats.

Most of the stray dogs are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Odisha, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The data tabled by the Central government in the Parliament last year found that most stray dog bites were reported in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat.

As per the government data, India reported nearly 16 million cases of stray dog bites between 2019 till November 2022.

There are 10 million or 1 crore pet dogs in the country, reported Times of India (TOI).

Recent incidents of dog attacks

A 30-year-old research student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) received several and serious wounds after being attacked by two dogs inside the campus recently, reported TOI.

This incident comes days after Safdar Ali, a 70-year-old retired doctor, died in an attack by stray dogs inside the campus. The horrific incident was captured on video and gone viral on social media.

Last Sunday, separate incidents of two children being mauled to death were reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh and Moradabad districts, as per Economic Times.

In another incident this month, an 18-month-old girl died after being attacked by stray dogs in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district.

In March, two siblings – aged five and seven – were mauled to death by stray dogs in separate incidents in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area.

Telangana’s Hyderabad reported two different cases of attacks on four-year-old children by stray canines, leading to one toddler’s death, in February.

In January this year, a stray dog in Bihar’s Ara town attacked 70 people, reported Indian Express.

Pet dogs attacking their owners or people in localities has also become a major problem in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region.

ALSO READ: Noida baby dies after street dog attack: Why do strays become feral and how can they be tamed?

Why have stray dogs become a menace?

India does not allow to kill stray dogs. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, makes it illegal to be cruel to animals, including stray dogs. It also mandates pet owners to be responsible for their animal’s well-being and prohibits them from abandoning it, reported TOI.

According to Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rule, 2001, municipal bodies are responsible for sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs to check their population.

However, due to myriad issues, including lack of funds, the civic bodies seem to have largely failed to neuter and vaccinate stray dogs against rabies.

“Of course we have a stray dog problem,” Anjali Gopalan, managing trustee at the All Creatures Great and Small, a Delhi-based non-profit that cares for animals, told CNN.

“Not only do we have a stray dog problem, but we also have a problem with rabies in this country. So, steps have to be taken to deal with both.”

India accounts for 36 per cent of rabies deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Speaking to The Quint, founder of Delhi’s K9 School, Adnaan Khan, explained the behaviour of stray dogs. “Strays have a hunting instinct. They will kill and eat smaller animals if access to food is scarce in the localities where they are. The predatory instincts of pets are controlled as they have access to food, taken for walks, and kept active. But for strays, this behaviour is that natural instinct. So, there is a thin line between calling a dog ‘rabid’ and understanding its natural instincts,” Khan said.

Over or under-feeding strays can also be a problem. Khan told The Quint: “Given the scavenging instincts of strays when they begin to get fed in abundance, it affects their mental instincts. Initially, they would travel 2-3 kilometre in search of food and would keep themselves active. Once they start getting fed by animal lovers in a locality, they get overtly territorial and start attacking moving objects in order to protect that territory”.

He suggested that the best practice is to take food and feed the stray dogs while walking for a distance of one-two kilometre so these animals do not become territorial about a particular area.

Moreover, people who keep pets such as pit bulls, German Shepherds, Great Rottweilers, and Golden Retrievers need to realise that lack of proper training and environment can make these canines aggressive.

Dev Rawat, a dog trainer since 1995, told IANS, “The biggest problem is that the dogs are not fed properly and they get less travel. Often people rear a dog because of a hobby, but because of their jobs, they keep the dogs locked in the house throughout the day. Because of this, the dog starts becoming irritable.”

“Being tied up in the house all the time is one reason dogs bite.”

What can be done?

It has to be a combined effort of pet parents and local authorities.

India needs to implement a robust system for animal healthcare and control. There has to be an increase in the vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs. “The problem is lack of awareness towards how to live around dogs,” veterinarian Sarungbam Devi, founder and trustee of Animal India Trust, was quoted as saying by CNN. There needs to be an “intense anti-rabies drive and sterilisation programme everywhere in India”, Devi added.

Pet owners need to do their bit and not abandon their dogs. If they cannot take care of the canine, they should send them to animal shelters instead of leaving them on streets.

With inputs from agencies

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