‘What could go wrong?’: ‘The Skin Doctor’ flags BBMP’s chicken-rice for Bengaluru stray dogs plan

He raised a red flag about the long-term consequences of the move, calling it well-intentioned but potentially dangerous.

As the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) prepares to roll out a first-of-its-kind ₹2.88 crore scheme to feed stray dogs across the city with rice, chicken, vegetables, and eggs, the civic initiative has drawn flak from an unexpected quartera dermatologist and popular social media commentator known as ‘The Skin Doctor’.

BBMP is planning to feed stray dogs with Chicken meals.

With over 120,000 YouTube subscribers and a significant following on X, the dermatologist often comments on social, civic, and geo-political issues. Weighing in on the BBMP’s plan to feed stray dogs daily at 100 designated spots across Bengaluru, he raised a red flag about the long-term consequences of the move, calling it well-intentioned but potentially dangerous.

“Here we were hoping the governments would do something about the rising stray dog population, and there in Karnataka, BBMP is launching a ₹2.8 crore scheme to feed stray dogs daily with rice, chicken, and eggs all over Bengaluru. What could go wrong?” he wrote in a post that has since gone viral.

Dermatologist raises four issues with the idea

Boosts survival and breeding

The availability of reliable, nutritious food would likely increase the survival rate of stray dogs, leading to higher reproduction and worsening Bengaluru’s already serious stray dog overpopulation problem.

Rising bite and rabies risk

More dogs on the streets, he argued, would naturally lead to increased human-dog interactions, especially in congested neighborhoods — escalating the risk of bites and rabies cases.

Strengthening pack behaviour

Feeding multiple dogs in the same spot daily could encourage stronger territorial instincts, as dogs begin to form packs and guard their food zones. This could pose a threat to pedestrians, children, cyclists, and vendors passing by.

Loss of scavenging instinct

Regular feeding at fixed spots may make stray dogs dependent on handouts, reducing their tendency to scavenge and making them more visible and concentrated in populated areas, turning them into a greater nuisance.

While he clarified that he’s not opposed to feeding animals or treating them with compassion, he stressed that any such effort must go hand-in-hand with sterilization and vaccination.

“I’d have supported this if BBMP had simultaneously announced mapping the fed dogs and running a sterilization and vaccination drive too. Take care of the existing dogs, but also control their breeding. Instead, they’re about to worsen the problem.”

The BBMP, which has pegged the city’s stray dog population at 2.7 lakh, plans to cover around 4,000 dogs daily through this scheme. Each dog will receive 600 grams of cooked food with at least 750 kcal, and contractors are required to provide GPS-tagged, photographic evidence of the feeding.

While the civic body says the initiative is aimed at reducing stray dog aggression due to hunger, especially after a fatal attack in Jalahalli last year, critics like The Skin Doctor say the approach needs to be more holistic.