NEW DELHI: The overall number of street dogs has declined in the majority of states in the country, but increased in 17 states including Maharashtra, Karnataka and others. The overall number of 1,71,38,349 street dogs counted in 2012 has now reduced to around 1,53,09,355 dogs in the streets. The last count was held in 2019 through the 20th Livestock Census.
At present, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka have the highest numbers of dogs in the streets while surprisingly, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Lakshadeep and Manipur do not have a single dog on the streets.
Similarly, there are only 69 dogs in Mizoram and 342 in Nagaland giving no menace to the commuters in the streets. As a result of the declining number of dogs in the streets, the country is consistently witnessing a decline in stray dog bites cases also.
The country reported 17.01 lakhs dog bites cases in 2021 which reduced from 72.78 lakhs dog bites
reported in 2019. From January 1 to July 22 in 2022, only 14.5 lakh cases of dog bites have been reported across the country, including states like UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajashthan and others having a good number of dogs in the streets.
According to data presented in the Lok Sabha recently by the Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, the number of street dogs in Uttar Pradesh had also declined but still, the state has the highest number of dogs in the streets giving a tough time to the commuters, especially women and school going- children.
In UP, there are 20,59,261 street dogs as per the 2019 Census on the prowl reduced from 41,79,245 at the last count of the Census held in 2012.
UP is now followed by Karnataka with 11, 41,173 dogs in the streets as per the Census conducted in 2019, an increase from 8,76,081 as per the last count of the Census in 2012. Maharashtra now has 12,76,399 street dogs, an increase from 12,16,093, followed by Kerala with 2,89,986 street dogs as per the 2019 counts, an increase from 2,68,994 as counted during the 2012 Census.
The concerned ministry said that Rajashthan has also witnessed a rise in the number of street dogs from 11,51,015 in the 2012 Census to 12,75,596 till the last count of the census held in 2019.
In Gujarat, the number of street dogs has increased from 8,46,093 as per the 2012 Census to 9,31,170 as per the census in 2019. Haryana has also registered a rise in the number of street dogs from 4,22,474 to 4,64,578 by the 2019 census.
Even coastal state like Goa has also an increased number of street dogs from 16,325 to 27,864 followed by Himachal Pradesh from 65,220 to 76,933 now and J&K from 2,70,577 to 3,08,897 now. In Meghalaya also, the number of street dogs has increased from 5,350 to 10,653 followed by Mizoram now with 69 from zero dogs in the street in 2012.
In another coastal state Odisha, the number of street dogs has also increased from 8,62,520 to 17,34,399 followed by Sikkim from 8,703 to10,695 now. But Tamil Nadu has witnessed a decline in the number of street dogs from 6,47,798 in 2012 to 4,41,208 till 20th Census held in 2019.
Andaman and Nicobar Island now has 5,300 street dogs from 8,167 counted in 2012 but Arunachal Pradesh has witnessed a rise in the number of street dogs from 464 to 11,383 now.
“The number of street dogs might have further increased in the states wherein their numbers were high in 2019 because of sharp breeding among the dogs in the streets," a senior official of the concerned department guessed.
In West Bengal, the number of street dogs has declined from 11,57,170 to 11,40,165 followed by MP with 1,009,076 from 12,08,539 in 2012.
12 prominent states among 17 with the highest number of street dogs:
Chandigarh— 12922
Chhattisgarh—394686
Gujarat--------931170
Haryana----464578
Karnataka----1141173
Goa-------------27864
Himachal Pradesh--76933
Kerala-------------289986
Maharashtra---1276399
Rajashthan----1275596
Uttarakhand----84459
Odisha---1734399