Parag Desai's Death: How Big Is The Stray Dog Problem In India?

The death of industrialist Parag Desai, a high-ranking executive at Wagh Bakri Tea Group, has once again raised questions about the scale of the stray dog problem in the nation.

On October 15, he was attacked by stray dogs outside his house and he suffered a brain haemorrhage after a fall.

"Yesterday #ParagDesai, a personal friend, and the Executive Director of the Wagh Bakri Tea Group, tragically lost his life due to a brain haemorrhage caused by a fatal fall when he was desperately trying to escape an attack by street dogs," his friend and entrepreneur Dr Sudhir Mehta said on X.

Mehta further spoke about the issue of stray dogs which has become one of the most contentious and critical issues of our time. "The distressing reality is that politicians who dare to address this problem face fierce backlash. The hands of the administration are consistently tied by animal welfare groups. The opposition to any action, whether it's relocating, capturing, or even neutering these dogs, is relentless.

This menace has spiralled out of control and is now a life-threatening crisis. It's no longer about physical harm and the grave injuries inflicted on kids, senior citizens, and adults. What's even more distressing is the psychological terror that citizens endure, especially during the nights," he said.

"What makes this situation even more worrisome is that most stray dogs in and around #Pune are actively fed by volunteers, many of whom don't even reside in these affected areas. The havoc these dog packs wreak and the terror they impose are nothing short of a nightmarish ordeal. We need to take resolute action. It may be emotionally painful, but nothing justifies citizens, particularly innocent children, losing their lives or living in perpetual fear," he concluded.

How Big Is The Issue?

A nationwide survey conducted by LocalCircles in 2022 revealed that 60 per cent of respondents claimed that dog attacks are common in their areas. Specifically, 56 per cent noted attacks by stray dogs as common, while 31 per cent mentioned that attacks by pet dogs are frequent.

"Only 1 in 10 respondents credit their local municipal corporation for effective handling stray and pet dog management," the survey found.

LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia said the survey received over 31,000 responses from citizens located in 303 districts of India.

As per another survey conducted by the same organisation in April this year, a striking 79 per cent of respondents stated that they considered attacks by stray dogs to be common in their neighbourhoods. It means an increase by 18 per cent this year. The research collected more than 53,000 responses from residents in 326 districts, with 67 per cent of the respondents being men and 33 per cent women. Of those surveyed, 44 per cent were from Tier 1 districts, while 34 per cent were from Tier 2, and the remaining 22 per cent were from Tier 3 and Tier 4 districts.

According to data from The State of Pet Homelessness Index in India, there are approximately 62 million stray dogs and 9.1 million street cats in the country.

Based on the livestock census conducted by the Centre, the stray dog population in India has decreased from 17 million in 2012 to about 16 million in 2021, coinciding with approximately 1.7 million reported cases of dog bites.

Data presented by the Centre in Parliament during the previous year's monsoon session indicated that the four states with the highest incidences of stray dog bites are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of stray dogs, followed by Odisha, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

The Need Of The Hour

The need of the hour is to address the issue on a mission basis. The Swachh Bharat Mission should allocate resources for this objective and also include Stray Animal Management as a parameter in assessing the performance of cities and local governments, 71 per cent of respondents opined in LocalCircles survey.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the government should come up with a "pro-active policy". "We really need to have a pro active policy in place to handle the stray dog menace- active stray animal shelters especially dogs, neutering them, their vaccinations etc," she said in a post on X.

"I have seen many NGOs who selflessly serve the cause but struggle due to lack of funds and local governments that have funds but not prioritising it," the Rajya Sabha member added.

Deepak Shenoy, CEO and founder of Capitalmid, said that the stray dogs should be taken "off the streets".

"We do need to address the stray dog menace in India. The fear is enough reason, even if it causes people to fall and hurt their head because they're getting attacked - the problem is pack dog behaviour. Need to take them off the streets - too many such incidents," he posted on X.