What is the population of stray dogs and cats in India?
New Delhi, Nov 26: India has around 6.2 crore stray dogs and 91 lakh street cats, as per a new report, which claims 77 per cent of the country's population said that they see a stray dog at least once a week.
Stray
Animals
in
India
Statistics
According
to
the
State
of
Pet
Homelessness
Index
data,
India
has
a
high
prevalence
of
stray
populations
which
is
bringing
the
country's
'All
Pets
Wanted' score
down.
Overall,
the
country
scored
2.4
on
a
10-point
scale.
"Nearly 68 per cent (almost 7 in 10) of the population say they see a stray cat at least once a week while nearly 77 per cent (8 in 10) say they see a stray dog as frequently," the report said. It claims that nearly eight crore homeless cats and dogs are there in the country, including 6.2 street dogs and 91 street cats. Whereas there are 88 lakh street dogs and cats in shelter homes.
Also, 85 per cent of companion animals in India are homeless, the index said.
Despite such a big dog population, 61 per cent of the general population in the country said they do not visit the vet. It is because of distance, reputation or facilities which is significantly higher than the global average of 31 per cent and drives the 'All pets Cared For' score down.
3
Street
Dogs
for
Every
100
People
At
least
three
street
dogs
can
be
found
for
every
100
people
in
India,
said
Gauri
Mulekhi
from
People
For
Animals
(PFA),
a
non-government
organisation
advocating
animal
rights
in
India.
"...in
the
last
6-7
years
the
number
(of
street
cats)
has
gone
up
because
now
breeding
of
cats
is
happening
and
every
time
animals
are
bred
the
number
of
homeless
animals
rise.
Though
India
has
dog
breeding
rules,
it
came
20
years
late.
If
enforced
earlier,
we
would
have
had
much
less
street
dogs," she
told
PTI.
The report further claims that there are 7.5 crore estimated homeless cats and dogs in China, 4.8 crore in the US, 20.6 lakh in Germany, 20 lakh in Greece, 74 lakh in Mexico, 41 lakh each in Russia and South Africa, and 11 lakh in the UK. PTI