CHENNAI: Street dogs are regular part of urban life in many Indian cities, including Chennai. While interactions with these animals are mostly uneventful, increasing attention is paid to the public health concerns tied to rabies, bites, and occasional conflicts. Chennai once tried to control street dogs by putting them down, but today, with vaccination and birth control, there’s a better way. While these dogs deserve our care, they also need to learn to fend for themselves.
Krithika Srinivasan, professor of Political Ecology, University of Edinburgh, and the principal investigator of ROH-Indies, a research project that seeks to advance the understanding of people-dog relations, shares insights into how Chennaiites perceive street dogs, the nature of conflicts, and the complexities involved in managing these interactions.
Excerpts
In your research, what are the key factors that shape how people perceive street dogs?
What we found in Chennai, where we’ve done the most research over time, as well as in other parts of the country, is that on an everyday basis, the bulk of interactions between people and street dogs are uneventful. People generally neither like nor dislike dogs and often don’t think about them much. When we started this research 15-16 years ago, people were puzzled as to why we would even carry out a study on street dogs, because they didn’t see it as an issue. This has changed recently, in part due to the public attention these issues have been getting.
For the most part, interactions and attitudes remain neutral. Conflict is just one aspect of human-dog interactions. Public health discussions often focus on rabies because, though rare, the fatality rate is almost 100%. It’s preventable if the necessary action is taken, but without intervention, it’s fatal.
However, other forms of conflict have gained public attention in recent years — especially in media and court cases. People tend to focus on serious attacks that result in mauling or deaths, though these are rare. When we speak to people in everyday settings, the most common complaints are about chasing and nuisance related to barking. Serious incidents, while rare, dominate public platforms.
Despite these conflicts, your research mentions that many people also provide care for street dogs.
Yes, in our research, we found that a large proportion of people have provided care to street dogs at some point — over 60% of our representative sample of people in Chennai, for example. But when we talk about care, we don’t mean organised or systematic care. It’s more casual, like giving leftovers, or providing water, or shelter during extreme weather. This care is not necessarily from people who identify as animal activists but from ordinary citizens. These acts often go unrecognised, but they are more common than the conflicts people hear about on public platforms.
Interestingly, the same person who cares for a dog can also view the dog as a nuisance. For example, they may feed a dog, but also complain about barking or chasing. People often hold multiple attitudes toward street dogs — both positive and negative — which leads to the complex relationship we see.
What conditions tend to lead to the conflict?
Several factors contribute to conflicts. First, just like people, dogs have individual personalities, and their behaviour varies. For example, territorial behaviour often leads to conflict, especially when dogs become possessive over a person who regularly feeds them. Environmental conditions also play a role. Piles of waste can attract dogs, and territorial disputes between dogs can escalate into conflict with people. The majority of interactions are peaceful, but media attention tends to skew public perception.
How does waste management play into this issue?
Waste management is a crucial factor. Even though door-to-door waste collection is supposed to be the norm in Chennai, we still see people leaving garbage bags outside their homes, sometimes the night before collection. This leads to garbage being scattered, either by dogs or crows, and creates conditions for conflict. If people followed proper waste disposal practices, it could significantly reduce the number of conflicts between street dogs and people.
What strategies are most effective to manage street dog population?
The most effective strategies are animal birth control (ABC) and anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) programmes. In Tamil Nadu, the street dog population has decreased significantly from 6,47,798 in 2012 to 4,41,208 in 2019. These programmes not only reduce the number of dogs but also help prevent aggressive behaviours related to mating or protecting puppies. Relocating or culling dogs, on the other hand, is counterproductive. Stable, vaccinated dog populations are far more manageable and lead to fewer conflicts over time.
How can behaviours like barking or chasing be addressed?
Proper environmental management plays a key role in addressing nuisance behaviours. For example, reducing garbage piles in neighbourhoods would prevent dogs from gathering and becoming territorial. Public awareness campaigns are also important. People need to understand how to behave around street dogs — for instance, not running when chased by a dog, as this often escalates the situation.
How can public education about safe interactions with street dogs be improved?
Just like we teach road safety, we need to educate people about dog behaviour and how to prevent conflicts. NGOs and policymakers should also focus on bite prevention and first aid, such as proper wound cleaning after a bite. While dog control programmes are important, they won’t solve the issue on their own — education and awareness are equally necessary.
What should be the focus of future public health and urban policy efforts to better manage human-street-dog interactions?
Firstly, different problems require different solutions. Secondly, the solutions and public health efforts should go beyond just controlling dog populations. Policies need to address the environmental and social factors that lead to conflict. Removal of dogs, whether by relocation or culling, only makes the problem worse because new, unvaccinated dogs move into the area. Instead, stabilising dog populations through ABC and ARV, along with environmental management and public awareness, is the way forward.