The number of dogs on India’s streets declined from 1.71 crore in 2012 to 1.53 crore in 2019, according to figures tabled in Lok Sabha by Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala.
Replying to a question from Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress(M), the Minister cited these figures from the Livestock Censuses of these two years.
18 lakh: This was the decline in the number of dogs on the streets across the country, marking a 10% reduction, between 2012 and 2019.
21 lakh: This was the decline in the number of dogs on the streets of Uttar Pradesh, which was steeper than the all-India decline. The numbers in UP reduced by half — from 41.79 lakh in 2012 to 20.59 in 2019.
3.7 lakh: Next to Uttar Pradesh, the highest decline in the number of stray dogs was in Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), at 3.7 lakh, from 12.3 lakh in 2012 to 8.6 lakh in 2012. Out of 17 states that had a stray dog population of 1 lakh or more in 2019, eight witnessed a decline in numbers. Apart from UP and Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), the other six states were: Bihar (decline of 3.4 lakh), Assam (3 lakh), Tamil Nadu (2 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (2 lakh), Jharkhand (98,000) and West Bengal (17 lakh).
2.6 lakh: This was the increase in the number of dogs in the streets of Karnataka, the highest for any state. Among the top 17 states, the number increased by 1.25 lakh in Rajasthan, and by less than 1 lakh in Odisha (87,000), Gujarat (85,000), Maharashtra (60,000), Chhattisgarh (51,000), Haryana (42,000), Jammu & Kashmir (38,000), and Kerala (21,000).
0: The Union Territory of Lakshadweep had not a single dog on the streets, in either of the two Livestock Censuses. In the 2019 Census, no stray dogs were found in two other states: Dadra & Nagar Haveli Haveli (a drastic decline from 2,173 in 2012) and Manipur (where 23 strays were counted in 2012). In Mizoram, the count had been zero in 2012; this increased to 69 in 2019.
