Hyderabad: The Supreme Court in its judgment on August 11 said that it is very important to deal with the problem of stray dog bites in India. Also described the situation of stray dogs as ‘extremely serious’. The Supreme Court also directed that all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) be caught and sent to dedicated shelters (set up by municipal bodies) within eight weeks. After this, animal rights activists like former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi criticized the Supreme Court’s decision and called the move ‘irrational’.
The Supreme Court order also raises immediate practical questions on the capacity of shelters, funding, veterinary and staff needs, long-term welfare and adoption plans. The Supreme Court bench said that shelters will be built for 5000 stray dogs, and adequate human resources will also be available for sterilization of dogs.
But this number is very low, because according to the data of the Animal Husbandry Department, there were more than 55,000 stray dogs in Delhi till November 2023. This means that the Aashray Yojana will be able to take care of barely 10 percent of the dogs in Delhi.
In such a situation, the question arises that who is responsible for taking care of stray animals? What is the situation of stray dogs in India? How many deaths occur due to dog bites. Let us understand these questions one by one…
Article 246(3) of the Indian Constitution
Under Article 246(3) of the Constitution, state governments oversee the protection and welfare of animals, including the prevention of diseases. Articles 243(W) and 246 entrust the responsibility of controlling stray dogs to local bodies, mainly through the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program. According to a government press release issued in April 2025, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has published a revised Animal Birth Control (ABC) module for stray dog population management, rabies eradication and reducing human-dog conflict.
Status of stray dogs in the country?
According to the November 2023 report of the Animal Husbandry Department, there are 1 crore 53 lakh 4 thousand 345 stray dogs in India. That is, stray dogs are about 1% of the total human population of the country. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of stray dogs (2,059,261), followed by Odisha (1,734,399) and Maharashtra (1,276,399) in third place. Seven states, including these three states, Rajasthan, Karnataka, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, have more than ten lakh stray dogs each. Gujarat has 9,31,170 dogs.
Among the top metro cities, Bengaluru tops the list with 2.8 lakh dogs, followed by Delhi (55,462), Mumbai (50,799), Chennai (24,827), Kolkata (21,146) and Hyderabad (10,553).
According to the same report of the animal husbandry department, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Lakshadweep do not have a single stray dog. Mizoram has the least number of dogs at 69, followed by Nagaland with 342.
Top 10 States
State Number of Stray Dogs
Uttar Pradesh 20,59,261
Odisha 17,34,399
Maharashtra 12,76,399
Rajasthan 12,75,596
Karnataka 11,41,173
West Bengal 11,40,165
Madhya Pradesh 10,09,076
Gujarat 9,31,170
Bihar 6,96,142
Andhra Pradesh 4,71,884
Dog Bite Risk
It has become common in India for dogs to bite humans, seriously injure them or even cause their death. Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 89,58,143 incidents of dog bites were recorded in India. In 2022, 21.8 lakh dog bite incidents were reported, and this number has continued to rise, with 30.5 lakh dog bite incidents reported in 2023, and 37.1 lakh dog bite incidents in 2024.
37.1 lakh dog bite incidents were recorded, showing a 45% increase from 2022 to 2024.
Maharashtra recorded the highest number of dog bite incidents. The state reported 13.5 lakh dog bite cases during the period 2022-2024. This was followed by Tamil Nadu with 12.8 lakh dog bite incidents and Gujarat with 8.4 lakh dog bite cases during the same period. Although Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of dogs, it still recorded 5.85 lakh dog bite cases during the same period.
Ladakh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Andaman & Nicobar have less than 10,000 dog bite cases, while the Union Territory of Lakshadweep is the only region where not a single dog bite case has been reported.
Top 10 States (As of 2022-2024)
State Dog Bite Cases
Maharashtra 13,51,155
Tamil Nadu 12,86,658
Gujarat 8,40,737
Karnataka 7,57,565
Andhra Pradesh 6,49,680
Bihar 6,47,683
Uttar Pradesh 5,85,291
Telangana 3,33,935
Rajasthan 3,32,105
Odisha 3,25,036
Rabies Deaths
Rabies is a fatal disease that causes hydrophobia. It is spread by an infected animal biting or clawing humans. Though many animals can transmit the disease, globally, dogs are considered to be the main cause of rabies spread to humans. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, rabies causes around 59,000 deaths worldwide every year.
According to the government report, in the three-year period between 2022-2024, a total of 125 people have died of rabies in India. Maharashtra tops the list with 35 deaths from rabies in the period 2022-2024. Karnataka had 12 deaths from rabies in the same period, followed by 9 each in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. 9 states and 5 union territories had no deaths from rabies in the same period, while the remaining states had at least one death.
Top 10 States (as of 2022-2024)
State Rabies Deaths
Maharashtra 35
Karnataka 12
Madhya Pradesh 09
Tamil Nadu 09
Uttar Pradesh 09
Bihar 06
Manipur 06
Himachal Pradesh 05
Meghalaya 05
Andhra Pradesh 04
