21-04-2025
Farmers await Government Order on compensation for livestock lost due to attack by street dogs
Farmers in Tiruppur-Erode belt are waiting to know the modalities for payment of compensation by the government for loss of livestock and poultry birds due to attack by wandering dogs.
Taking cognisance of the spate of protests by farmers, the State government consented to compensate farmers at the rate of ₹6,000 per goat or sheep, and ₹200 per chicken.
The officials at the local level reportedly claim that the Government Order to that effect was awaited.
In a petition submitted last week under Right to Information Act, P. Velusamy of Bagavathypalayam in Kangayam block, who was among the farmer leaders who led the protests, urged the Public Information Officer, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Department to share a copy of the G.O. or any equivalent official communication issued by the State government regarding the compensation to the affected farmers. There was widespread concern as street dogs had turned rabid, he said.
The Central government had pointed out to the State governments that the responsibility of implementing Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 (in supersession of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001) vested with local bodies.
The data of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which was responsible for the human health component related to dog bits and human rabies, indicated that Tamil Nadu ranked third at the national level in dog bite cases so far during 2025 with 48,931 cases reported, after Maharashtra (56,538) and Gujarat (53,942).
The stand of the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is that intensive implementation of the Animal Birth Control programme by local bodies was the only rational and scientific solution to the overpopulation of the street dogs and controlling incidence of Rabies.. Animal Welfare Board of India provided the Animal Birth Control Project Recognition to recognised Animal Welfare Organisations to carry out the sterilisation and immunisation programme.
However, the Central government had acknowledged that it had not conducted a formal assessment of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme's effectiveness in controlling the stray dog population.
