The Challenge

• Culture
• Environment
• Neglected Disease

Culture: In Hindu mythology, Yuddhistira, the hero of the great epic, the Mahabharata, the final test at the gates of Heaven involves refusing to leave behind a stray dog that accompanied him throughout his journey. Yuddhistira views this as a terrible injustice because if the dog is not good enough for Heaven, then Heaven is not a place where he would want to be. By refusing to leave his companion behind, he is welcomed into Heaven.

As this story demonstrates animals have a special place in Indian society. They are welcomed by the people as a way of ensuring a place in heaven. Stray dogs in India are often referred to as 'Community dogs.' Most people do not own dogs in the sense that they have a licensed dog with tags, but rather the dogs are cared for by the community as a whole. It is customary to protect and feed stray dogs in this society. As a result, effective canine programs require public education, support, and assistance of the local community.

Environment: The streets of India are home to an estimated 25 million stray dogs where they thrive amid conditions of poverty, over-population and the lack of proper sanitation and waste disposal. In contrast to Western countries where wild animals are the most common carriers of rabies, dog bites account for the majority of rabies transmission in India.

For over 100 years, India's civil authorities have attempted to control the stray dog population through mass killing. Government authorities have caught and killed stray dogs at designated sites or poisoned them in situ. However, without altering the habitat, these attempts have been futile. It is now recognized that the capture and destruction of stray dogs by poisoning, electrocution, or other means only temporarily reduce the dog population.

It is the most marginalised sections of society who face the greatest risk of infection; those living in areas of the city with high population densities, poor quality housing, and limited sanitation and waste disposal. The risk is often exacerbated by cultural attitudes with neighbourhoods accepting stray dogs as belonging to the community.

Neglected Disease: Despite being an entirely preventable disease it is estimated that more than 50,000 people die per year from rabies, making it the tenth leading cause of death among human infections. India alone accounts for sixty percent of these deaths, with more than 30,000 casualties annually.

Though we can estimate the number of rabies casualties, the true numbers of people and animals which die from rabies are simply not known. This is due to the fact that it is not required to report rabies cases in most of the world. As a result, rabies ranks low on priority list for disease control programs.

In 99% of the cases in India, a dog is responsible for transmitting rabies to humans. Although dogs play a significant and positive role in Indian society, they are viewed by many animal health officials as unimportant as they do not have an economical value to people, like for instance a cart horse.

Because rabies is viewed as a rare disease caused by the bite of an uneconomical animal, it does not receive the necessary attention and aid from either the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Agriculture.