Census puts TN dog "strength" at 27 lakh

Chennai, Feb 7 (UNI) Tamil Nadu had a dog population of 27 lakhs, according to the 2004 census, state Planning Commission Deputy Chairman M Naganathan said today.

Addressing the SAARC Congress on dogs practice here, he said as per the census, there were 24 lakh canines in the state and Chennai city had 39,878 dogs.

Kanniyakumari district topped the list with six lakh dogs and Ramanathapuram had the lowest of 15,855 dogs, he said.

The world population of dogs is estimated to be 48 crore, he said adding if the world population is 638 crore, there would be six dogs per 100 people.

Thanks to the drive launched by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary University, the incidence of rabies has been brought down considerably and the growth of population of stray dogs has been contained in the state, he said.

Pointing out that people always lived in close association with animals and nature, Mr Naganathan said there was an imbalance in this set up during the last three years after industrialisation and this led to natural calamities like tsunami and earthquakes.

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