The Union Budget may propose a funding scheme for mass sterilization of stray dogs in government veterinary hospitals, three officials familiar with the matter said. The scheme, the first of its kind in India, will provide one-time grants to hospitals to build dedicated surgical theaters and post-operative recovery facilities.
The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has submitted the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program to the Finance Ministry, the above people said on condition of anonymity. The development comes as the Supreme Court hears petitions challenging its order to remove stray dogs from public spaces such as schools and hospitals.
“We have received the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) regarding ABC and are studying the various provisions,” said one of the three people, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Case load
Dog bites have almost doubled in two years, figures from the Department of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Products show, from almost 2.2 million in 2022 to more than 3.7 million in 2024. The crisis intensified in 2025, with January alone recording 429,664 bites – a staggering number of days that translates into more than 800 bites across the country.
Human deaths were also on the rise, climbing from 21 in 2022 to 54 in 2024. While the 2019 Livestock Census put India’s stray dog population at 15.3 million, estimates suggest that India has the 2021 State of Pet Homelessness Index by global pet health and nutrition company Mars Petcare.
While India’s ABC Rules of 2023 mandate sterilization and vaccination of stray dogs by local authorities, implementation has suffered due to lack of funding. But the rules failed because they shifted the burden to municipalities without monitoring, the person added.
To be clear, the ABC rules mandate what must be done—such as sterilization, vaccination, and humane treatment of animals—but do not provide funding for implementation at the municipal level. A national system can bridge this gap by providing financial, logistical and technical support, setting sterilization and vaccination targets across states and ensuring uniform coverage.
Timeline
The proposed regime is expected to be incorporated in the 16th cycle of the Finance Commission, which will last from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031.
This scheme would focus on mass sterilization to stabilize the dog population while ensuring vaccination against rabies. Rabies is almost 100% fatal once clinical signs appear, but can be prevented by vaccination in both dogs and humans.
“Nothing is more tragic than a preventable death. We have directed medical colleges to train staff in rabies treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) while ensuring continuous supply of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and serum (ARS). All cases must now be reported to state health authorities and uploaded to the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP),” said a second official.
A deadly disease
A person who develops rabies after being bitten by a dog usually shows symptoms such as fever and headache, anxiety, hydrophobia (fear or difficulty swallowing water), and excessive salivation.
Doctors stress that the scale of the crisis calls for a “One Health” approach. Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, a public health expert, explained that rabies is a universally fatal disease in which the virus travels from the wound site to the brain. Dr. Jayadevan pointed to a landmark study published in The Lancet Global Health revealing that India sees about 5,700 rabies deaths annually, far more than hospitals report. “The goal must be zero. Research shows that a percentage of apparently healthy free-roaming dogs carry the virus in their saliva, making it impossible for the public to identify a dangerous animal,” he added.
Inquiries emailed to the animal husbandry, finance and health ministries on Jan. 14 remained unanswered as of press time.
Judicial matters
Certainly, the Indian judiciary has been seized by the increasing incidence of dog bites across the country. On 13 January 2026, a bench of the Supreme Court expressed deep concern over the “lifelong impact” of dog bites, especially on children and the elderly. In a series of scathing oral observations, the court warned that state governments could be held liable for high compensation for each death or injury, noting that administrative failures had allowed the problem to multiply.
On Tuesday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath heard submissions from animal rights activists and NGOs, Live Law reported. The arguments centered on the failure of municipal authorities to implement birth control rules and the state’s liability for dog bites under Section 21. The court will hear the matter again on January 28.
Keren Nazareth, Senior Director of Pets and Engagement, Humane Society International (HSI)/India, a global animal welfare organization, noted that the main obstacle is the lack of adequate resources. “The introduction of the system will be a significant and timely step in the right direction to help bridge the long-standing gap and bring uniformity across states,” Nazareth said.
Shaurya Agrawal, PETA India’s policy associate for animal rights, said a dedicated budget framework can finally bring scale and discipline to dog population management. “Its success will depend on execution and ensuring that implementing agencies receive funding in time to operate under the 2023 rules,” Agrawal said.
The national strategy is also aligned with India’s ‘Zero by 30’ commitment, a global initiative led by the World Health Organization to eliminate human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. This is a critical target for India, which consistently accounts for approximately one-third of all global rabies deaths between 2020 and 2024.
