Srinagar’s stray dog menace requires a measurable strategy. Official data places Srinagar’s stray dog population at about 64,416, based on a scientific survey conducted in 2023. Between June 2023 and September 2025, the SMC sterilised 15,266 dogs and vaccinated 15,725 against rabies. Yet the persistence of complaints and bite incidents shows that the response needs to become faster, wider and more systematic. The comparison with Jammu is particularly relevant. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has pointed to Jammu’s higher sterilisation coverage and asked why similar progress has not been achieved in Srinagar. In August, he called for mission-mode action, including more trained dog catchers, veterinary staff, expanded sterilisation and faster removal of garbage that provides an easy food source for stray animals. The SMC should treat this direction as a clear operational mandate rather than another administrative instruction. The first priority should be to establish the actual scale and location of the problem. The absence of uniform ward-wise data is a serious weakness. Every sterilised and vaccinated dog should be digitally identified and mapped, with information available ward by ward. This would allow the SMC to identify areas with high concentrations of unsterilised dogs, frequent bites, breeding activity and complaints. Performance should then be measured publicly through monthly targets rather than only through cumulative figures. Capacity is the second major requirement. Srinagar cannot control a population of this size through limited infrastructure and sporadic operations. The additional ABC centre at Ahal Chatterhama, along with existing facilities at Tengpora and Shuhama, should be brought into full operation and properly staffed. Veterinary surgeons, paravets, trained catchers, transport and post-operative facilities must be available in sufficient numbers. The government has already acknowledged that infrastructure and operational capacity require augmentation. At the same time, sterilisation alone cannot solve the problem. Garbage management must become an integral part of the strategy. Open waste, overflowing bins and food waste provide conditions in which stray dogs can survive and multiply. SMC needs to identify chronic garbage points, ensure timely collection and impose accountability on contractors and field staff. Designated feeding points, where required, should be properly regulated and kept away from schools, hospitals, playgrounds, busy pedestrian routes and other high-footfall locations. Public safety must also receive greater attention. Schools, hospitals, markets, parks and residential lanes should be mapped as sensitive locations. Complaints about aggressive or suspected rabid dogs should trigger a rapid-response mechanism. Health authorities must ensure that no victim is left searching for anti-rabies treatment. Recent government data shows the scale of the concern, with thousands of post-exposure vaccination cases recorded in Srinagar. Finally, the SMC needs to communicate results. Residents should know how many dogs were sterilised, vaccinated and identified in their wards, how many complaints were received and how quickly they were addressed. Independent monitoring can further establish whether the programme is producing the results. The objective should not be indiscriminate removal of dogs, nor can public safety be compromised in the name of inaction. Srinagar needs a humane, scientific and accountable system.
Stray Menace
