Street Dogs: Fear, Facts & The Quiet Heroes Among Us

Every parent knows the sharp instinct to protect. When a dog barked too close to her daughter on her way to the bus stop, Neha’s protective instinct kicked in. “What if he bites? What if she gets rabies?” That fear lives deep in many of us.

How Misinformation Fuels Panic

But what if much of this fear is based on misinformed headlines and half-truths? As a result of an unrelenting media campaign against street dogs using exaggerated bite figures and stock photos of snarling animals.

Supreme Court Orders Shelter Confinement for Dogs

India is currently gripped by a wave of concern. Tragically the Supreme Court too has fallen prey to fear, rather than relying on facts. Taking suo moto cognisance of a case of meningitis falsely broadcast as rabies, it has passed disastrous directions for all dogs to be incarcerated in shelters. It has disregarded the on ground reality, the data, all previous experience as well as its own past orders.

To understand the real picture, we need to step back—and hear from those who work on the ground to quietly protect both humans and animals.

Take the example of Meenakshi, an employee in animal welfare NGO Janm in Gurgaon. Meenakshi has spent the last four years sterilising and vaccinating dogs from across Gurgaon, with the help of multiple different veterinary doctors. Now in blocks where 15 dogs once roamed, today, only 6 remain—calm, friendly, vaccinated. No litters. No fights. No new dogs enter because this stable group guards its territory peacefully.

She’s not alone. In Jaipur, NGO Help in Suffering vaccinated and sterilised over 25,000 dogs. A WHO-backed study found that rabies-related deaths dropped to zero, and dog bite cases fell by 28% in areas covered by this effort. In Indiranagar, Bengaluru, residents sterilised 11 dogs over 18 months, and rehomed 3. The local dog population now stands at 5—vaccinated, cared for, and non-aggressive.

These citizens who are currently brutalized for helping dogs, aren’t animal fanatics. They are public health volunteers. Their work reduces risk, littering, aggression, and rabies—all while costing the state nothing.

Before we scapegoat dogs, it’s time to confront what the numbers really say.

Rabies: 100% Fatal, but 100% Preventable

Rabies is not airborne, and cannot spread via casual contact. It must enter the bloodstream via infected saliva. Soap and water can deactivate the virus.

India is now almost rabies-free. In 2024, just 54 cases were recorded in a population of over 1.4 billion. In 2025, only 1 case was recorded in January nationwide.

Bite figures are often inflated fivefold. AIIMS confirms that five vaccine vials per bite case are counted as five separate bites in official data.

These vials are also used for monkey, rodent bites and pre-exposure dosesfor volunteers—but all are wrongly clubbed under “dog bites.”

New data now categorising bite sources suggests nearly 90% of bites are caused by pet dogs, not street dogs.

Why? Street dogs defend food and territory against other dogs—but usually avoid humans. Pet dogs, by contrast, are protective about their homes and humans.

Media outlets widely cited the case of a young girl who died after an alleged dog bite some months ago. The narrative took on a life of its own, yet the doctors neither diagnosed or confirmed rabies.

Here’s the excerpt from a news report: ``The doctor did not confirm rabies. The cause of death was stated to be a brain infection."

Despite being taken to multiple hospitals, no medical report mentioned rabies. The symptoms matched meningitis, not rabies. Yet the case is being cited in courts and headlines as "evidence" against street dogs.

If removing dogs from the streets into confined space feels like a solution, think again. Globally, shelters quickly turn into breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases. In Umuarama, Brazil, 70% of shelter dogs carried toxoplasmosis, 20% had leptospirosis, and many carried Brucella canis—a disease that affects fertility in humans.

Studies show sheltered dogs carry more parasites than street dogs due to stress, confinement, and lack of hygiene.

India Lacks Veterinary Infra

India lacks the veterinary infrastructure, funding, or space to manage the sudden institutionalisation of millions of street dogs. Without adequate oversight, shelters may become public health risks rather than solutions.

The real problem is zero budget for prevention

While the Animal Husbandry budget stood at ₹5,000 crores in 2024, zero rupees were allocated for ABC (Animal Birth Control) programs or rabies vaccination of dogs. None—since 2021.

There is a way to make our cities safer. It’s not panic. It’s not mass capture. It’s public-supported community sterilisation, feeding, and vaccination.

Let’s not wage a war against street dogs. Let’s fund the proven, humane methods already working across Indian cities. Let’s support the people doing it. If you're scared, you're not wrong. But trust the data, not the drama.