Stray Dogs Case: Animal Lovers’ Claims Contradicted As Data Shows India No.1 In Rabies Deaths

Stray Dogs Case: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its ruling on the verdict of a different bench ordering the relocation of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR within eight weeks in view of public safety. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had directed authorities in Delhi-NCR on August 11 to start relocating all stray dogs from streets to shelters. The bench had asked the authorities to initially start by creating a shelter to house 5,000 dogs.

Whether you side with animal lovers or trust the hard statistics, one thing is clear that India ranks number one in the world for deaths caused by rabies.

Which country has the highest number of deaths due to rabies?

A 2024 report laid bare the grim numbers. According to data released in 2021 by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), India reported 4,023 deaths from rabies the highest in the world.

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Ethiopia came second with 1,043 deaths, followed by Nigeria (909). Pakistan ranked fourth with 614 deaths, China fifth with 604, Nepal sixth with 479, and the Philippines seventh with 250 deaths.

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Supreme Court’s New Order On Stray Dogs

The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the stray dogs issue and heard it. While giving its verdict on the matter, a two-judge bench said that the Delhi government should build shelter homes for dogs. All stray dogs should be removed from the roads, streets and mohallas within 8 weeks.