4 lakh street dogs roam Hyderabad roads

Despite initiatives to neuter them, dog bite cases on the rise

Hyderabad: Around four lakh dogs roam the streets of Hyderabad, making them the most regularly encountered stray animals in the city. Along with the challenges of caring for and managing their population, the increasing dog bite cases, the recent victim being a three-year-old girl in Ramanthapur, reflect a long-standing problem. While there are ongoing initiatives by municipal authorities to neuter street dogs, they claim majority of animals that attacked and wounded people in the past are the ones that were already sterilised.

According to a senior veterinary official, there are around 3.79 lakh stray dogs within GHMC limits and 80 per cent of them have been sterilised. “GHMC has the highest percentage of neutered dogs when compared to other municipalities. This is because we sterilise dogs regularly and respond to calls swiftly as we did for the Ramanthapur case. We went to the location for three days in a row and the dog which bit that girl was sterilised,” said the official.

---

Experts however maintain that neutering dogs reduces aggressive behaviour and that multiple other factors like lack of food sources, human provocation, or trauma from previous experiences could be the reasons behind the attacks. Another challenge officials face is the resistance of residents while dropping off the neutered animals.

“As per the rules, we can only pick up the dog and sterilise it. We cannot relocate them and most citizens insist we do that.” This multifaceted long-standing problem continues to prevail on the city roads affecting both humans and dogs, with little to no change in the status quo.

Sensitise people, suggest animal activists

Despite several canine attacks, dog lovers and activists’ affection towards the four-legged animal has not dwindled. In fact, many claim that lack of awareness among general public is the root cause of the problem. “The authorities are no doubt neutering street dogs, but what they also have to do is sensitise people. There is a very bad perception in our city that GHMC vans will come and take dogs away. While picking them up for sterilisation, they should interact with the residents and inform that they will drop back the dogs,” says Pridhvi Panneeru from Citizens For Animals. Another suggestion is to proactively and strategically sterilise street dogs, in contrast to sterilising only when a complaint comes in from the public.