Bengaluru's plan to feed Rs 2.9 cr stray dogs has residents questioning govt's ‘misplaced' priorities

The Print

11-07-2025

However, the move has ignited a heated debate, especially on social media, with many calling it Siddaramaiah government's 'misplaced priority'. City residents have questioned the move, asking if feeding dogs is the administration's prime concern while Bengaluru's 1.4 crore inhabitants are being forced to endure crumbling infrastructure, traffic snarls and poor quality of life.
'The Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, BBMP invites Proposals under Karnataka Public Procurement Portal (two cover system) for providing feeding services to community dogs in 8 zones of BBMP on outsourced basis for a period of 1 year extendable by another 1 year if the services provided is satisfactory and the decision shall be taken by the chief commissioner BBMP,' read the tender note floated on 4 July.
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru civic body, or Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, has unveiled a Rs 2.88 crore annual programme to feed chicken rice to around 5,000 stray dogs —coming up to 367 grams of chicken rice per day at Rs 22 per dog, costing around Rs 36 lakhs for each of the eight zones in the IT capital. The move is aimed at containing aggression by the dogs and maintaining public safety.
Several X users slammed the government on the platform Thursday.
Out of 2.8CR…. 2.7 CR are eaten by paper dogs … wait for a reel by ministers!
— Raj (@weinvestsmart) July 10, 2025
As per a report from Times Now, there is Rs. 2.8 Crore tender by the BBMP (Karnataka Government) to feed stray dogs with chicken and eggs. True governance is about treating your voters like dogs and your dogs like voters.
— Tushar Gupta (@Tushar15_) July 10, 2025
The BBMP had initially announced the programme in October last year as part of what it called the 'Kukur Tihar', or the festival of dogs. At the time, the name of the festival had sparked a row as the Hindi words for 'dog' and 'festival' were used, as opposed to the Kannada words, adding to the debate around the imposition of Hindi.
Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Karti Chidambaram, who has often raised the issue of managing street dogs in Parliament and on social media from the prism of safety hazard, responded to the announcement on X, writing: 'Is this true? Dogs have no place in the streets. They need to be relocated to shelters, where they can be fed, vaccinated & sterilised. Feeding & keeping them in a free roaming state in the streets is a huge health & safety hazard.'
He had even met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March to raise the issue, besides suggesting the formation of a national task force to deal with it. Karti claims that India has over 6.2 crore stray dogs, among the biggest numbers globally.
In June, Congress MLAs appeared to be taking turns to criticise the government led by their own party over the lack of funds for infrastructure-related projects. The critics included the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's own economic advisor, Basavaraj Rayareddi, who had said that people should give up benefits of the guarantee schemes in order for roads to be built.
The Rs 2.88 crore tender to feed stray dogs has now fuelled further criticism.
Indians r cooked coz of their political leaders!
That is how your tax money is being used.
Rs 2.8 Cr tender floated by BBMP to provide daily meat-based meals to stray dogs across all eight city zones, roughly 600 to 700 dogs per zone https://t.co/sGhwkeSvV6
— Pvt. sector exploited tax payer (@TaxPayerPvt) July 10, 2025
The BBMP, in its 2025-26 budget, had set aside Rs 60 crore for 'maintenance of street dogs', which included a pilot project for microchipping the dogs.
The feeding of stray dogs has often ignited friction in several neighbourhoods and apartment complexes as a section of people is opposed to it. An elderly woman was killed after she was attacked by stray dogs in Jalahalli in August last year, which had sparked outrage. The BBMP had also introduced guidelines for pet owners in residential complexes, but it became a contentious issue.
Now, with the new programme, residents have raised safety hazard concerns yet again.
Dear @BBMPofficial – If you feed them on the streets, they continue to attack people. You will have blood on your hands.
Relocate the stray dogs, feed them, vaccinate them and sterlize them.
Humanity is important but that cant be at the cost of Human lives.
— Amarnath Shivashankar (@Amara_Bengaluru) July 10, 2025
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Bengaluru shouldn't stop at serving chicken rice to stray dogs. Sterilise, vaccinate too