Let evidence offer ways to handle stray animals

THE Supreme Court’s order on removing all stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-NCR and transferring them to shelters has sparked an animated debate across the country. This debate has become polarised, with animal lovers opposing the order and dubbing those welcoming it as anti-animal and cruel. They are also raising moral, ethical, religious and mythological arguments and invoking grounds of empathy and compassion.

In recent years, we have had long legal battles over stray dogs in public places, with courts issuing orders to restrict feeding and then amending them subsequently. One should recognise that stray animals, in fact, all free-roaming animals in human habitats, pose a threat to human health, and we need a public health approach to address this problem. Free-roaming animals in cities and villages include dogs, cats, monkeys and cattle.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised dog-mediated rabies as a public health problem and launched a global initiative for the elimination of rabies by 2030. India is a signatory to this global call and has committed itself to reaching the goal of ending rabies in the country. Rabies is among the slew of Neglected Tropical Diseases for which special efforts have been mounted by the world health agency, and member countries like India have endorsed them.

To fulfil its commitment, India launched the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Dog-mediated Rabies (NAPRE) in 2021. The health ministry has told states to make rabies a notifiable disease and step up reporting and surveillance systems, as well as access to diagnostic services and vaccines.

Dogs are the main carriers of the rabies virus, though it can also spread from cats and monkeys. Rabies spreads through the saliva of infected animals, which gets transferred to humans through a bite. After a dog bite, if treatment is not given in time, the infected person can die.

The treatment for dog-mediated rabies consists of post-exposure prophylactic immunisation administered intramuscularly or intradermally. This helps to eliminate or neutralise the rabies virus at the bite site and prevent its entry into the nervous system.

Vaccination needs to be accompanied by wound care and administration of rabies immunoglobulins in many cases. The administration of vaccination and immunoglobulins is a complicated procedure, requiring trained medical manpower. In addition, access and availability of vaccines are a major issue, given the fact that most victims of rabies exposure are from vulnerable and marginalised communities.

Animal lovers often try to undermine the scale and problem of rabies by hiding behind inadequate reporting and data-gathering by government agencies. Despite the inadequacies, the rabies burden in India is massive and among the highest in the world. Globally, as per the WHO, one person dies from rabies every nine minutes — mostly after being bitten by a rabid dog. The agency estimates that rabies causes 18,000 to 20,000 deaths every year in India. About 30 to 60 per cent of the reported rabies cases and deaths in India occur in children under 15 years, as bites that occur in kids often go unrecognised or unreported. India accounts for 36 per cent of the global burden of rabies.

The rabies burden is directly linked to the rising trend of dog bites in India. Based on data provided by national agencies, the WHO reported recently that India had 1.22 crore cases of animal bites in 2023 — up from 72 lakh in 2019. However, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme data, released by the Central Government in April this year, put the total number of dog bites at 37 lakh in 2024 and the number of rabies deaths at 54.

The only scientific and evidence-based solution to the rabies challenge is mass vaccination of dogs. Since dogs are the primary reservoir of the rabies virus, inoculating them against it would prevent the transmission of rabies from dogs to humans. We need to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the dog population to make inoculation effective in preventing rabies transmission to humans. In India, this is problematic because the population of stray dogs runs into millions, and our veterinary infrastructure is inadequate to handle the task. Also, the free-roaming dog population may be inaccessible in many areas. If the vaccination coverage is poor, it won’t work. Moreover, available dog vaccines don’t prevent wildlife-derived rabies. Vaccination benefits are lost if unvaccinated dogs enter areas or territories where high vaccination rate has been achieved. Dog vaccination also does not solve the problem of dog bites, which is a traumatic experience, especially for children.

The solution being advocated in India is animal birth control — taking dogs away from streets, neutering them and releasing them back on the streets. Given the large population of stray dogs and poor veterinary infrastructure, this strategy could take decades to stabilise the population of street dogs. Meanwhile, the threat of rabies and the additional burden of treatment of dog bites will still loom large.

Besides, the fear of dog bites and animal attacks keeps people, particularly children, the elderly and morning walkers, away from public places like parks, recreational facilities, pavements and neighbourhood markets. The same holds true for public premises like schools, colleges, hospitals, government offices, railway stations, bus stands and courts. We need to make all our public spaces safe for citizens. Feeding of free-roaming animals/birds — dogs, cattle, monkeys, pigeons — in public places adds to the problem.

Free-roaming creatures pose a multi-faceted public health and safety challenge, which needs a multi-pronged strategy — vaccination, birth control, relocation, restrictions on feeding, public awareness and strengthening of anti-rabies clinics. The health ministry and state health agencies should seize the opportunity provided by the Supreme Court order to initiate a public dialogue to find durable solutions based on evidence and research. The debate should not be restricted to dogs but include monkeys and stray cattle, which are causing huge economic losses to farmers in some states.

Dinesh C Sharma is a science commentator.