Higher Sterilisation Coverage & Community Engagement Can Help Reduce Human-Dog Conflict, Highlights Humane World For Animals India Report

Mumbai: A new report from animal protection group Humane World for Animals (HWA) India indicates that increased sterilisation coverage, coupled with community involvement, can result in fewer complaints about stray dogs, outlining a humane and viable strategy for managing urban dog populations in India without resorting to relocation or mass sheltering.

Over three hundred thousand street dogs were sterilised in the past decade, with more than four hundred and fifty thousand vaccinated against rabies. Nine of the twenty cities and towns witnessed a decrease in complaints when sterilisation rates exceeded around eighty percent. In Vadodara and Lucknow, two of the longest-running programs, call volumes for complaints, bite incidences, and requests for dogs to be removed from areas all declined after reaching roughly eighty percent sterilisation coverage.

The report underscores how effective animal birth control (ABC) implementation can facilitate humane street dog population management. Community participation plays a pivotal role in the success of ABC programs, as highlighted by the data. HWA India's initiatives, such as its Abhay Sankalp model, involve public meetings, dog behavior workshops, volunteer engagement, and awareness activities to promote understanding and participation in local dog population management within communities.

Keren Nazareth, HWA India's senior director for companion animal and engagement, emphasized that ABC is not a swift solution and requires strong planning, persistent effort, consistency, and time to see changes in dog population and human-dog coexistence. Dr Piyush Patel, HWA India's another director for companion animal and engagement, added that the quality of care during and after surgeries, including handling, anesthesia, post-operative care, and recovery, significantly impacts the effectiveness of an ABC program.