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Delhi faces a recurring crisis concerning its stray dog population, recently amplified by a Supreme Court order to remove these animals. This directive has reignited a longstanding debate about the management of stray dogs and the public health concerns they raise. The fear underlying this action is not unfounded; Delhi is home to nearly a million stray dogs, and dog bite cases have surged dramatically in recent years. Statistics indicate a 277% increase in dog bite incidents between 2022 and 2024, with January 2025 alone witnessing a 52% spike compared to the previous year's monthly average. However, the Supreme Court's response, focusing on the removal of stray dogs, is viewed as a reactive measure that addresses the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of the problem. This is where the One Health framework becomes crucial. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and ecological health, asserting that only integrated solutions can effectively ensure public safety and long-term well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a stark reminder of this interconnectedness, highlighting the importance of holistic approaches to public health challenges. The article underscores the importance of considering the broader ecological and systemic factors that contribute to the stray dog crisis in Delhi, rather than simply resorting to measures like removing the dogs.
The core of the issue lies in understanding the complexities of rabies transmission and the environmental factors that sustain the stray dog population. Rabies, a zoonotic disease, is transmitted between animals and humans and finds a conducive environment in urban systems like Delhi. The city's inadequate waste management practices contribute significantly to the problem. Delhi generates over 11,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, nearly half of which is mismanaged, creating open garbage heaps that serve as a consistent food source for stray dogs. This constant availability of food allows their populations to persist regardless of efforts to capture or remove them. Historically, the city has employed a "catch and kill" method, a practice that originated during British rule and was heavily used after India's independence. However, this approach has proven to be ineffective and even counterproductive. A study conducted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi from 1980 to 1990 revealed that despite slaughtering 8 lakh dogs over the decade, the city's stray population remained at 1.5 lakh. By 1993, authorities acknowledged the failure of this method, noting that rabies deaths had risen, and the dog population continued to grow unabated. This historical context illustrates the ineffectiveness of reactive measures and highlights the need for a more comprehensive and sustainable approach.
The underlying problem stems from the disrupted urban ecology in Delhi, where unmanaged waste sustains a variety of disease-carrying scavengers. The sudden removal of dogs can further destabilize the ecosystem. When dogs are displaced, other scavengers, such as rodents, pigs, or monkeys, move in to occupy the same ecological niche. Rodent populations, in particular, thrive on unmanaged waste and are reservoirs of diseases such as leptospirosis. Therefore, any strategy that ignores these ecological connections risks replacing one public health crisis with another. Beyond the ecological factors, gaps in human health systems exacerbate the problem. Post-exposure treatment is highly effective in preventing rabies deaths, yet access to such treatment remains inconsistent. Clinics often lack essential resources such as vaccines and immunoglobulin, epidemiological and laboratory surveillance is limited, healthcare professionals receive inadequate training, community awareness is low, and coordination across different sectors is weak. These systemic issues underscore the need for a multi-faceted approach that addresses both animal and human health concerns. India's own Animal Birth Control Rules, updated in 2023, prioritize sterilization, vaccination, and release to avoid the negative outcomes associated with mass removals. The Supreme Court’s directive, however, contradicts these rules, undermines years of legal reform, and could expose India to accusations of animal cruelty.
Adopting a One Health approach shifts the focus from a simple choice between humans and dogs to a more holistic understanding of how the city manages the interconnected systems that affect both. Effective waste management reduces the conditions in which rabies spreads, dog vaccination protects both animals and humans, and post-bite treatment saves human lives. These measures must be implemented in conjunction to be truly effective. Furthermore, the escalating effects of climate change add another layer of complexity. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall can alter waste decomposition rates, influence rodent populations, and affect dog behavior, making already fragile urban ecosystems even more unstable. Therefore, treating dog removal as a simple technical fix ignores the reality that the most serious health risks in the coming decades will emerge where human, animal, and environmental health intersect. A One Health approach provides the most effective pathway to address these challenges comprehensively and sustainably.
Importantly, there is increasing evidence from within India that large-scale vaccination programs can significantly reduce rabies exposure even before sterilization efforts reach full scale. Goa, for instance, became the first Indian state to eliminate human dog-mediated rabies through a program that combined mass dog vaccination, public education, and surveillance. While vaccinating each dog in India costs slightly more than the global average due to labor-intensive methods like hand-catching strays, the program has proven to be highly cost-effective. Over a 10-year period, it prevented 121 human deaths and 3,427 DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) at a cost of just U.S. $567 per DALY. This demonstrates the substantial public health benefits and economic efficiency of a comprehensive vaccination strategy. Similarly, Jaipur's two-decade program of sterilizing and vaccinating stray dogs cost approximately U.S. $658,744 and saved more than 36,000 years of healthy life from rabies and dog bites. The cost per year of life preserved was between U.S. $26 and $40, far below the World Health Organization’s benchmark of U.S. $2,000 for cost-effectiveness in India. The city saved an estimated U.S. $5.6 million, nearly nine times its investment, when the value of lives saved is taken into account. This makes it one of the most cost-effective public health strategies documented in India. Modeling in Tamil Nadu further supports this evidence, showing that vaccinating just 7% of stray dogs annually could reduce human rabies deaths by 70% within five years, while expanding coverage to 13% could reduce deaths by nearly 90%. These examples highlight that targeted canine vaccination, within a One Health framework, is a feasible, affordable, and highly effective strategy for preventing human rabies deaths while simultaneously ensuring animal welfare.
In conclusion, Delhi's reliance on mass removals is a short-sighted approach that fails to address the root cause of the problem: rabies, not the dogs themselves. This strategy offers only temporary relief, undermines animal welfare, and risks disrupting the urban ecosystem. The evidence from Goa, Jaipur, and Tamil Nadu clearly demonstrates that targeted canine vaccination, combined with sterilization, public education, and effective waste management, is both feasible and highly cost-effective. By embracing a One Health strategy, Delhi can protect human lives, uphold animal health and welfare, and restore ecological balance, providing a sustainable path to eliminate rabies. The article emphasizes that a comprehensive approach, incorporating waste management, vaccination programs, public education, and post-exposure treatment, is essential for achieving lasting success in managing the stray dog population and preventing rabies in Delhi.
Source: Delhi’s stray dog crisis demands a One Health response