Delhi plans to count its stray dogs amid rising bite cases

The committee, which held its second meeting on Monday, gathered suggestions from the MCD, doctors from government hospitals, NGOs running 20 sterilisation shelters, animal welfare experts, and dog lovers.

Sub-committee chairperson, Sunder Singh Tanwar, said a monitoring team will be formed to inspect one shelter a week and look at sterilisation records. “We’ll see if the shelter has enough rabies injections, look at its sanitation conditions, if an infected dog is kept isolated, and check records of sterilisation,” he said, adding that RWAs will also be roped in to carry out the measures.

Officials said the civic body, in collaboration with various NGOs, plans to implant a microchip in every dog at sterilisation centres. The chip will record details of their sterilisation status and other vital information, enabling effective monitoring and tracking in the future.

Former BJP MP and founder of People for Animals, Maneka Gandhi, who was also present at the meeting, emphasised the need to upgrade and equip the ABC (animal birth control) centres run by the corporation, improve existing medical facilities, and train staff.

Tanwar said dog lovers demanded that the Delhi government and civic body-run hospitals should function 24×7 and provide special attention and care to dogs who meet with accidents.

Animal welfare expert Gauri Maulekhi, who was also part of the meeting, said, “The ‘nexus’ between several ABC centres and MCD officials concerned was formally brought to the attention of the Standing Committee’s chairperson.”

She also alleged that there’s no information on veterinarians working at ABC centres on the MCD website.

Her recommendations to the committee included: robust monitoring, infrastructure upgradation, civil society participation, capacity-building, and transparent fund utilisation. “We remain hopeful that the Standing Committee will rise above decades of bureaucratic inertia and initiate meaningful implementation of the law,” she added.

Satya Sharma, Standing Committee Chairperson, said the MCD aims to adopt a holistic approach to strike a balance between animal welfare and public health. “We are taking strong and effective steps in this direction with the support of all agencies concerned and experts to resolve the issue of stray dogs.”

Last month, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of a report about infants in Delhi falling prey to the menace. Three big hospitals in the Capital — Safdarjung Hospital, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital — are witnessing a surge in the cases of dog bites over the last few years.

Data accessed by The Indian Express had shown that Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital saw a massive surge in dog bite cases this year when compared to the figures in 2021. While 63,361 cases were reported in the entire year in 2021, the hospital has already registered 91,009 cases till July this year