60% respondents in Chennai say stray dogs not menace

CHENNAI: Stray dog menace has been a public health problem since the pandemic in 2020. Despite several cases of dog bites, including ferocious attacks on children, a study has revealed that not everyone complained about stray dogs. In fact, 60% of the respondents said that stray dogs offer companionship and protection.

Conducted by a professor from University of Edinburgh, along with 2 city-based NGOs, Samayu and Socratus, the study was conducted with 4,600 people in Chennai.

The study revealed that the number of street dogs in Tamil Nadu had dropped from 6.47 lakh (2012) to 4.41 lakh (2019). The cases of rabies had dipped too.

“During the survey, when we asked the respondents about the problems caused by stray dogs, not everybody complained. For instance, street dwellers, especially women, feel safe when stray dogs are around. A few said that the dogs were innocent creatures,” said Krithika Srinivasan, Professor of Political Ecology, University of Edinburgh and principal investigator of a research project on street dogs and public health (ROH-Indies).

Public debates around street dogs in the city focus more on the conflict and characterised by dog control, neglect of other key measures including creating awareness on bite-and-chase issue, prevention, universal knowledge of and access to appropriate post-bite prophylaxis, and ecological and social strategies for safe cohabitation.

She added that the most common complaints and conflicts regarding stray dogs were chasing, fighting between dogs and barking at night. Around 2% of the respondents agreed on this. On the other hand, at least 60% agreed that stray dogs offer companionship and protection. Also, cleanliness workers have vast knowledge about preventing conflict, but awareness among the general public was quite less.

According to the Livestock censuses (2012 and 2019) carried out by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, GoI, the overall number of street dogs of 1.71 crore in 2012 had reduced to around 1.53 crore in 2019. Street dog population has declined in most states but increased in 17 states including Maharashtra and Karnataka. However, in Tamil Nadu, it has dropped from 6.47 lakh in 2012 to 4.41 lakh in 2019.

Talking about the stray dog population control, Krithika opined that mass immunisation and animal birth control surgery can prevent at least 70-80% of the population in a year. “The mass dog vaccination (MDV) has proven to be an effective tool, amongst other measures. For example, the Goa government initiated a State Rabies Control Programme in 2015 in partnership with Mission Rabies. It had three elements – MDV, rabies surveillance and education and awareness,” explained Krithika.

The data collected between 2014-2022 by the Goa government revealed that in the seven years of the implementation of the programme, Goa did not have a single reported case of rabies from 2018-2023.

The public awareness about stray dogs is less in TN, and a holistic approach needs better awareness on understanding daily interactions, caring for these dogs, food waste disposal, vaccination and control of dog population and most importantly, managing dog bites and prevention of rabies.

“As many as 20,000-30,000 rabies deaths are reported in India, which is the highest in the world. The diagnosed mortality rate is 100%, but in some cases it’s 99.9%. Any unprovoked bite from cats, dogs, horses, cows and bats should be considered as rabies. The bitten area should be washed and immediately given medical attention,” said Dr V Ramasubramanian, senior consultant, Infectious Diseases, Apollo Hospital. “You must visit a nearby healthcare centre at the earliest if a dog bites you, even if it’s a pet.”