New Delhi: In the backdrop of increase in the number of dog bite incidents, the government on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha there were around 1.71 crore stray dogs in different parts of the country.
"The information regarding the number of stray dogs as published in the 19th Livestock Census 2012 by the department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture in both rural and urban areas in states and UTs is 1,71,38,349 as per table number 79 of the above report," Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply.
Figures as per the report show that in the urban areas, there were 25,10,169 stray dogs while in rural areas, there was 1,46,28,180 stray dogs.
Javadekar said the Animal Welfare Board of India has released grants-in-aid under the scheme for birth control and immunisation of stray dogs and the number of dogs sterilised under it are 89,708 in 2012-13, 48,405 in 2013-14, and 31,341 in 2014-15.
He said several municipal corporations were also carrying out sterilisation programme of street dogs.
He said as per the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001, it was the responsibility of the local authority or the municipal corporation to control the population of street dogs.
He said that action is taken against the animal welfare organisation as per the guidelines of the scheme and general financial rules in case of any default on their part in carrying out sterilisation.
As per reports, Supreme Court too recently asked Kerala whether measures can be taken to collect stray dogs in one place and sterilise them as per the law.
The menace of stray dogs has been on the rise in Chandigarh, with nearly 500 dog bite cases being reported from the city each month and the municipal authorities battling to find a solution to the problem, a recent report said.
