Catch and release: Workers carrying stray dogs on a stretcher after sterilisation outside a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. — AP
Feroz Ahmed does not leave home for his early-morning walk without a stick. Now in his 60s, he is wary of stray dogs that live nearby, on the outskirts of Srinagar.
“I carry a stick to protect myself from dogs,” he says.
A stray dog bit Rehmat Ashraf, 6, on the face outside her house. Plastic surgery has so far been unsuccessful in helping her fix her scar. Fazi, 60, was attacked by stray dogs near her house. She survived but suffered multiple injuries all over her body
Many big cities in India are grappling with a stray dog problem. Estimates put their number in New Delhi between 500,000 and 1 million. A survey in 2023 found the city of Bengaluru, had 279,335 stray dogs.
In Srinagar, over 6,000 cases of dog bites were reported last year – more than 80% of them severe. The municipal authority here has begun an ambitious drive to catch and sterilise over 21,000 stray dogs by the end of 2026.
Dog catchers use special applications and phone cameras to record the location of the capture of stray dogs so that they can be released in the same place after being sterilised. — AP
