Mumbai's Stray Dog Nightmares: The SC Diktat And Asia's Richest Civic Body's Hurdles In Safeguarding Its Denizens
We explore Mumbai's burden in the light of the recent Supreme Court directive to remove stray dogs from streets to make streets safer for people.
Published : November 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM IST
|Updated : November 14, 2025 at 7:10 AM IST
By Kaustubh Khatu
Mumbai: Omkar Kature could have remained a stranger to trypanophobia. He could only till the age of 11. Kature, a 28-year-old resident of Kurla, is a graphics designer. Till date, he shudders at the very thought of injections he had to take in childhood after he was bitten by a stray dog. There are far more strays in Kurla (West) now, than what he had seen around Mumbai city back then.
When he was 11, he was bitten by a stray. "I was returning home with my father after we closed our vegetable shop, at night. I was attacked by a stray that bit my left foot. I was in excruciating pain, and my father realised he should not waste any time. He just picked me up and rushed to KB Bhabha Municipal General Hospital in Bandra," Kature said.
He remembers, doctors cleaning his wound and dressing it. Also, the fact that they gave him his first anti-rabies injection, one of more than a dozen he had had received as per the old vaccination regimen. The needles used in those vaccines were big back then, could have easily scared even as an adult. It left him scarred for life.
"I had to make a run to the same hospital every few days to get fully vaccinated with the course of 14 injections," he said, adding that the entire episode shook him beyond compare. "I get scared at the sight of any injection," he rued.
He now tries his best to avoid roads and streets which have stray dogs. He strongly feels the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers need to shift these strays permanently to shelter homes and not just leave them on the streets after neutering them.
"I am scared of strays to this day. I get jitters when I see a pack of dogs on our streets. The strays are a threat to our lives," Kature said. He is not alone, many believe the number of strays in this city is growing, posing a huge threat to its denizens.
Rajnarayan Vishwakarma (51), who resides in Malad (East), goes to Jogeshwari (a western-suburb) for a walk every morning. He used to see a huge pile of garbage dump near the pond where there always are a few strays, nibbling to eat food. Often people feed these strays biscuits and food. None of which, he thought would one day pose a danger to his life.
Earlier in February, a stray attacked him during his walk and bit him on the leg. "I was scared as I was alone. I pulled myself fast to go to Apla clinic (run by the BMC), which was close to this place," he said. They cleaned his wound and asked him to go to a general hospital for vaccination.
He went to JJ hospital, a government tertiary hospital which was 22 km away. He wrote to the BMC and asked them to catch the strays in the suburbs. "I feel scared whenever I see stray dogs. I was bitten in February, even now I still don't feel confident to walk on the streets," said the quinquagenarian, whose fear has compounded now with the inaction of the civic body.
Kature and Vishwakarma are among the lakhs of dogbite survivors in Mumbai. According to BMC spokesperson Tanjai Kambli, the civic body has recorded one lakh dog bites in 2024.
There have been multiple representations from the locals that these stray dogs are removed from the vicinity of schools, colleges and public places. The BMC had announced that it would conduct ward-level surveys to get an exact count of strays in every ward. In their reply to the Supreme Court, the civic body has admitted, only 1,20,000 strays have been sterilised in the last five years.
The Supreme Court in its orders on November 7, asked all local bodies to move all strays to permanent shelter homes. The BMC's affidavit stated the city has recorded 90,600 strays, which tallies with its 2011 dog census. It is the latest one to have been carried out by the local body, which is Asia's richest civic body with its budget outlay of Rs. 74,000 crore for 2025-26.
Welfare for Stray Dogs is an NGO that works with the civic authority to neuter and vaccinate the strays. ETV Bharat spoke to its CEO Abodh Aras who says the figures are way too small.
He is also against relocating sterilised dogs to shelters. According to him, shifting sterilised dogs "is not a solution." His logic is that strays from other areas will take the place vacated the sheltered stray dogs. "This will increase the burden of the administration," he claimed.
It has become difficult for the BMC to provide a permanent solution to prevent attacks on denizens, he said, adding that the civic body will conduct surveys to identify space to build new shelters.
Mumbai has only eight shelters, located in places like Parel, Kandivali, Sewree, Mahalaxmi, Deonar, Malad and Mulund. These shelters do not have the capacity to keep a large number of strays. These shelters, according to animal rights activsits, lack the necessary infrastructure to keep the animals for a long period of time.
Aras claimed that the shelters do not even have proper ventilation. "It does not have enough open space for these animals to move around. They are cage-like structures. The BMC had admitted that the new dog shelters will have to be built or the existing structures will have to be renovated. Along with lack of space, the authorities will have to look into hiring qualified staff and veterinary specialists. There are many impediments in implementing the SC orders," Aras said.
"An important thing is that there is no space to build new shelter homes in Mumbai. If a new shelter home is to be built, the BMC will first have to recruit veterinary staff. Therefore, it is not possible to actually implement the court's order. We also request that the Supreme Court look into this issue," said Aras.
He added, "The BMC will have to prepare a long-term plan in order to implement the Supreme Court orders. They will first need to identify the neutered dogs. After this, they will need to identify the strays that need to be sterilised, vaccinated, and then permanently house them in shelters. The average lifespan of dogs is 12 to 15 years, so long-term arrangements are needed for them. It is necessary to provide a dog handler, a veterinarian, and adequate food and water for each shelter."
According to Dr. Kalimpasha Pathan, a senior veterinary officer from the BMC, this is not a permanent solution to the increasing number of strays unless they are all sterilised. "Even if 30 to 40 per cent of stray dogs are shifted from public places to the shelter homes, additional shelters will be required to house approximately 40,000 dogs. A pair of dogs gives birth to about 20 puppies per year. Therefore, effective sterilisation is a long-term solution. Therefore, monitoring and strong infrastructure are required to comply with the court orders," Pathan said.
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