Canine conundrum: Can Delhi's sterilisation drive solve its stray dog crisis?

Stray dog menace

In a significant move to address the capital’s stray dog population, the Delhi government is launching a major sterilisation and vaccination drive, converting nearly a third of its state-run veterinary clinics into dedicated centres for the purpose. The initiative, as reported by The Indian Express, follows a recent Supreme Court directive and aims to implement structural reforms in the city's animal birth control measures.

According to officials, 24 of the 78 government veterinary clinics will be repurposed for the large-scale programme. The decision comes after the Supreme Court modified an earlier order concerning the confinement of strays in Delhi-NCR, instead directing that dogs be returned to their original territories after being sterilised, dewormed and vaccinated in line with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023.

Development Minister Kapil Mishra has chaired multiple meetings to finalise the project's details. A senior official cited by The Indian Express as highlighting critical systemic failures, stating that the ABC Rules are not being implemented properly and that a lack of data on daily, monthly, or yearly sterilisation and vaccination figures necessitates structural reforms in the city. The official added that “the government will study how the ABC Rules have been implemented in other cities, states and countries to come up with a comprehensive model to monitor the situation on the ground.”

To develop an effective model, the government will study the implementation of ABC Rules in other regions, with a specific focus on the successful framework in Lucknow. A consultant is to be appointed shortly to analyse which veterinary hospitals are suitable for conversion.

The plan includes creating a comprehensive new policy with detailed guidelines and a standard operating procedure (SOP). This policy will define sterilisation procedures, terms and conditions, necessary equipment and protocols for pre- and post-operative care. Furthermore, the government intends to empanel private veterinary clinics and NGOs with the requisite facilities to bolster the campaign’s capacity.

Acknowledging a shortage of manpower, officials were cited by The Indian Express as saying that they will invite animal lovers and volunteers to participate in the programme at both government and private facilities once the policy is formalised. Mishra is also scheduled to meet with private hospitals to discuss their involvement.

The push for a humane policy was underscored last week when Chief Minister Rekha Gupta directed officials to refrain from taking “harsh action” against stray dogs. The scale of the challenge is considerable; the last official dog census in 2016 estimated the capital's stray population to be approximately 800,000.