SC order not a quick fix, ineffective ABCs, lack of data worsen crisis
Activists point out that, despite spending tens of crores every year, the stray population remained much higher than official estimates.
To start with, there is no reliable state-wide data on the stray population. According to the nation-wide Livestock Census done in 2019, TN had 4.41 lakh stray dogs.
Of the 25 municipal corporations, only four have completed surveys in the last two years.
Tambaram recently undertook a survey, estimating around 45,000 dogs. The data from four corporations (Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Vellore) show that they together have roughly 3.3 lakh dogs, which is nearly 75% of the state-wide population in 2019, indicating the rapid growth the state seems to have witnessed, particularly during and post-Covid.
As per this data, Chennai has 1.8 lakh strays, but the actual numbers could be 2.2-2.3 lakh, sources said. Of the strays in these four corporations, only a meagre 19.8% have undergone ABC procedure. Local bodies should ideally target sterilising 70%-80% of the dogs in a ward in a city over a period of 5-10 years.
A meagre 20% coverage would leave the remaining to reproduce at an average of 4-6 pups per litter.
Shravan Krishnan, director of Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary, said instead of trying to implement the unviable suggestion of the SC, local body officials who failed to properly implement ABC should be pulled up.
The worsening of the problem is evident from the rise in dog-bite cases as well. According to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme data, cases rose from 3.6 lakh in 2022 to 4.8 lakh in 2024 in TN.
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