How can India Resolve its Stray Dog Crisis Lessons from Netherlands

A video of a street dog blocking the path of a Lamborghini Huracan supercar on a Mumbai street is going viral on social media, amusing many people who have dubbed the canine "Dogesh" and calling him the "real boss of the roads.”

- PT News

But, underneath the amusement lies a real issue of street dogs versus humans conflict that plagues Indian streets and makes them unsafe for pedestrians, especially children and the elderly. India has approximately 6.2 crore stray dogs, according to the State of Pet Homelessness Index of India, 2023. Between 2019 and 2022, a staggering 1.6 crore dog bite cases were reported in the country, The number remained alarmingly high in 2023 (30 lakh cases) and 2024 (21.95 lakh cases) as well, prompting anger and concern among citizens. India also accounts for 36 per cent of global rabies deaths, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) data, with the country witnessing 18,000-20,000 such cases annually. The increasingly escalating street dog menace has given an ironic turn to the old journalism maxim, "If a dog bites a man, it is not news; but if a ma