Stray Dog menace in Ahmedabad: A city of 3.75 lakh strays

With the population of Ahmedabad surpassing almost eight million, its stray dog population has also skyrocketed in the last three years.

The population of these strays has often turned to be a menace to the people. With an average 200 dog bite cases registered every day in Ahmedabad, several concerns regarding this issue has been raised, however the problem still persists.

Dog menace in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad’s street dog population currently stands at nearly 3.75 lakh. As per a survey conducted by an NGO in June 2019, the city had a total population of 2.20 lakh dogs. This roughly translates to a 70.45% hike in the stray dog population in the city in three years.

It has led to over 1.63 lakh cases of dog bites being registered in the last three years.

As per the year-on-year cases of dog bites, 52,318 were registered in 2020, 51,812 in 2021, and 59,513 in 2022.

Only the city’s municipal hospitals saw 1,63,643 cases of dog bites registered in the last three years. The numbers from private hospitals or those that were not registered have not been taken into account.

Expenditure behind the dog menace

In these three years, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has spent more than ₹9.36 cr to catch stray dogs. The AMC also pays ₹976.50 per dog to various organisations for catching stray dogs and releasing them elsewhere.

According to the leader of opposition in AMC Shehzadkhan Pathan, the corporation has spent ₹2.30 cr in 2020-21, ₹2.56 cr in 2021-22, and ₹4.5 cr in 2022-23 for the resolution of the stray dogs issue. However, this expenditure didn’t account for any relief.

Calls for action

The opposition party has called for the AMC to act to resolve the stray dog menace.

A letter was written to the municipal commissioner by the chairman of the revenue committee, Jainik Vakil, on April 21, 2022. The letter mentioned the difficulties faced by the citizens while commuting in the city due to the stray dogs, and proposed that the AMC and other stakehold make necessary arrangements to better handle  the concerns about stray dogs.

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