Amid SC order, Delhi does not know how many community dogs it needs to house

A survey planned by the municipal corporation has been stuck for over three years due to paucity of funds

New Delhi

The last dog survey conducted in Delhi was by the erstwhile South Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2016. (Representative photo/HT Archive)

300,000?

500,000?

A round million?

The Supreme Court has directed urban local bodies to relocate community dogs from streets of the national capital and adjoining NCR cities, but Delhi faces a key problem in terms of logistics: it does not know the number of such dogs, and a survey planned by the municipal corporation has been stuck for over three years due to paucity of funds, according to civic officials. But estimates vary widely, with the likely number nudging the seven-figure mark, which seems about right -- one dog for every 25 people.

Assuming 10 sq ft per dog, that would work to 10 million sq feet of shelter space. The Supreme Court does not seem to have thought of how much space will be needed, nor indeed, how much it is going to take to feed these dogs.

The last dog survey conducted in Delhi was by the erstwhile South Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2016.

“We have been sending requests for proposals to undertake a dog census in the city. The last survey was undertaken only by erstwhile South MCD in 2016, in which only four administrative zones (South, West, Central and West) under then south corporation were covered and 189,285 dogs were found,” a senior official from the veterinary department said. “Justification of expenses and methodology for census has been sought and the number of specialised agencies is very low, which leads to the process remaining stuck.”

MCD officials said that without a dog census, it is difficult to ascertain the requirements for shelter space, and the distribution of dogs across wards and zones. “An accurate distribution can help modify and focus our sterilisation drives on the vulnerable areas,” the official cited above said, requesting anonymity.

The MCD’s subcommittee on community dogs and development of shelters, in its last meeting, also highlighted the need for a pan-Delhi dog census.

MCD standing committee chairperson, who headed the meeting, said that the dog census process will be expedited to ensure that a clear picture of the problem can be obtained. “Now that the SC, HC and Delhi government are focused on the issue, no financial problem will be faced.”

The three erstwhile civic bodies were merged in May 2022 and the MCD now covers 12 administrative zones.

“On previous occasions, the proposal to carry out a fresh census was shot down by finance department citing the financial constraints. On one occasion, we did not receive adequate response from specialised agencies,” a second official, who oversees the animal birth control programme in MCD, said.

The official said a dog census is needed to identify the number of male and female dogs, the status of sterilisation and geographical distribution. In the 2016-17 survey in South Delhi, the corporation found that of 189,000 dogs, 114,000 were male and 74,698 were female. Around 40.3% of the male dogs were found to be sterilised, while 27.8% of female dogs were sterilised, the official added.

No such exercise was carried out in North and East Delhi due to a shortage of funds. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), meanwhile, houses an estimated 8,000 community dogs, out of which 55% are sterilised, according to a 2019 Delhi Assembly report. This number is likely to be a huge under-estimate, although many parts of Lutyens Delhi have been kept free of dogs.

The last dog census conducted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was in 2009, when the population of community dogs was estimated to be 560,000. A subcommittee constituted by the Delhi Assembly in 2019 estimated the population of stray dogs in the city at around 800,000. “Currently, the number of stray dogs in the city is estimated to be around 10 lakh,” the second civic official said.

MCD works with 11 NGOs and 20 animal shelters to run its sterilisation campaign. The corporation claims to have sterilised 270,000 dogs over the past three years; however, the number of dogs on city streets continues to increase. Several municipal councillors and animal rights activists have questioned the sterilisation count claims made by MCD.