Why removal of dogs creates more problems than it solves

In 1994, the municipal commissioner of Surat, Gujarat, ordered the killing of all the city's dogs.

- Maneka Gandhi

Within two weeks, every single one was dead. Just two weeks later, the first case of bubonic plague — one of history's deadliest diseases — appeared. With their predators gone, rats overran the city. Many people were bitten, and three cases of plague emerged. Across India, people began wearing masks, exports were halted, and tourism came to a standstill.

History is replete with such cautionary tales.

In the 1880s, Paris killed all its dogs and cats, with the same disastrous outcome. In China, a campaign to eradicate sparrows — accused of eating grain — in the late 1950s unleashed a locust invasion that triggered a famine.

The Supreme Court judge who on Monday issued a suo motu order to remove all dogs from the streets appears to have done so from a place of anger. He has neither taken into account the current laws nor considered the harmful consequences if this order were implemented.

Let me give a list of the consequences:

First, if Delhi, Rajasthan, or Tamil Nadu were to enforce this order, they would need to divert more than half their budget towards building pounds. In Delhi alone, this would mean finding land to construct 3,000 shelters, hiring 150,000 cleaners, purchasing 500 vans, and employing veterinarians and guards. The estimated cost would come to ₹15,000 crore — excluding land. Feeding alone would cost ₹5 crore a week — an expense that is currently covered voluntarily by community feeders.

Second, pounds have repeatedly proven ineffective. In Jodh-pur, a pound built 30 years ago had to be shut down within weeks because all of the dogs died. Conditions were so unsafe that staff could not enter due to constant fighting; food had to be thrown over the walls. Public outrage eventually converted it into an ABC (Animal Birth Control) facility. In Mohali, a large pound was constructed, but remains empty to this day — when they began filling it with dogs, the same problems arose almost immediately.