Lack of contraception centres, scarcity of vets, results in spike in canine bites, rabies deaths throughout south India

According to the federal government’s response to the Lok Sabha on July 22, 2025, over 37 lakh canine chew instances and 54 suspected rabies deaths have been recorded in 2024. The National Centre for Disease Control confirmed 37 lakh canine chew instances and 54 suspected human rabies deaths that 12 months.

The authorities has positioned the duty for managing the stray canine inhabitants on municipalities. In a written reply, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, S.P. Singh Baghel said that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme is being carried out throughout the nation to control stray canine numbers. However, regardless of ongoing sterilisation drives and vaccination campaigns, knowledge from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Kerala point out that the issue is way from resolved. The stray canine inhabitants continues to develop, and civic responses have been restricted.

The toll on human well being

In Tamil Nadu, as an illustration, the Directorate of Public Health reported a startling 1.24 lakh canine chew instances and 4 rabies deaths in simply the primary three months of 2025. The fatalities from rabies went up from 18 deaths in 2023 to 43 in 2024.

By mid-2025, 18 rabies deaths had already been recorded, suggesting one other 12 months of excessive mortality. Despite these grim statistics, the State’s sterilisation efforts are struggling to maintain tempo with the rising inhabitants of stray canine.

An official survey in Chennai estimated 1.8 lakh stray canine within the metropolis in 2024, although the precise quantity could possibly be a lot increased. Experts advocate sterilising at the least 90% of the canine in a brief interval to interrupt the reproductive cycle, however knowledge from the Greater Chennai Corporation reveals the variety of sterilisations in 2023 was 14,885 and a marginal discount in 2024, at 14,678.

Meanwhile, in Karnataka, 2024 noticed 3.6 lakh canine chew instances and 42 rabies deaths. This scenario has endured into 2025, with Bangalore Urban reporting 8,878 canine bites between January and June. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area, which incorporates town’s core, recorded 13,831 instances in simply six months. Although no rabies deaths have been reported in these areas throughout this era, Bangalore Urban was chargeable for 9 of the 19 Statewide rabies fatalities.

The scenario within the metropolis, significantly in poorer areas, displays the continuing challenges in controlling the stray canine inhabitants, regardless of efforts in additional prosperous neighbourhoods the place authorities companies are lively.

In Telangana, Hyderabad has additionally seen a dramatic improve in canine chew instances, which greater than doubled from 10,078 incidents in 2022 to 21,131 in 2024. The scenario is dire, with Greater Hyderabad now reporting over 100 canine bites on daily basis.

Between 2021 and 2024, the State recorded over 3.3 lakh canine chew instances, with Hyderabad contributing considerably to this complete. Local residents have expressed concern about letting their youngsters play outdoors as a consequence of aggressive stray canine. “Only as a result of I stay in a society that has banned stray canine can my little one play safely inside the advanced,” mentioned N. Sravani, mom of a five-year-old.

In Kerala, the scenario is equally regarding. Dog chew instances have surged from 1.19 lakh in 2014 to round 3.16 lakh in 2024, greater than doubling over the previous decade. The improve in rabies-related deaths has been simply as worrying: 25 deaths in 2023, 26 in 2024, and already 16 deaths within the first 5 months of 2025.

Significantly, a few of those that died had obtained rabies vaccinations, suggesting that in some instances, the virus reached the nervous system too rapidly, rendering the vaccine ineffective. In response, the Kerala authorities has plans to deploy cell ABC items throughout all 152 block panchayats, aiming to raised management the stray canine inhabitants.

For many, the concern of stray canine is a each day actuality, which makes even easy actions like taking youngsters for walks or taking part in outdoors a frightening job.

Challenges in controlling stray canine populations

The means to handle and management the stray canine inhabitants is hindered by a number of vital challenges. A vital problem is the shortage of enough infrastructure, particularly when it comes to animal contraception centres, and the scarcity of educated veterinary professionals.

Shruti Vinod Raj, honorary member of the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board, mentioned that Chennai alone wants 17 ABC centres to deal with the rising variety of stray canine. At current, town has solely 5, with plans for ten extra. The current centres are usually not sufficient to fulfill the demand, and solely a fraction of the required sterilisation procedures are being carried out.

Moreover, there’s a vital scarcity of certified veterinarians to carry out these important procedures, says Ms. Raj. The lack of expert professionals at these centres additional exacerbates the issue. In response to this, the Animal Welfare Board and the Animal Husbandry Department are working to supply focused coaching for veterinarians particularly to work at these centres, however this initiative remains to be in its early phases.

Another main problem comes within the type of bureaucratic crimson tape, which delays the institution of latest ABC centres. An animal welfare organisation in Hyderabad, which works with the native physique for ABC, famous that proposals for organising new centres could take years to be accredited, leaving the stray canine inhabitants to proliferate unchecked within the meantime. In many instances, by the point a brand new centre is operational, the inhabitants of strays has grown considerably.

Local residents, too, are noticing these gaps within the system. Okay. Guru, a resident of Bangalore, commented that whereas some prosperous areas are seeing a discount in stray canine numbers as a consequence of lively authorities intervention, the scenario in different elements of town stays grim. “In prosperous neighbourhoods, there appears to be some progress in controlling the stray canine inhabitants. However, in different elements of town, the issue is barely worsening,” he mentioned.

Experts have known as for a extra coordinated, widespread response, involving higher infrastructure, a bigger variety of educated veterinarians, and sooner decision-making to deal with the difficulty comprehensively. Until these challenges are addressed, the rise in canine chew instances and rabies deaths is prone to persist.