Collective Efforts Needed To Tackle Stray Dog Menace

The fact that over 2.06 lakh (206,000) people in Jammu and Kashmir have been bitten by dogs in just two years is a serious public health crisis. With nearly 100,000 cases reported every year, the problem has become normal, making people afraid to go outside and putting huge pressure on hospitals. This data shows an epidemic-level problem that needs an urgent, full, and kind response. The current small efforts are not enough. The main reason there are so many stray dogs, especially in cities like Jammu and Srinagar, is poor garbage management. Dogs gather and multiply around open rubbish dumps where they find food. Therefore, the first and most important step for a lasting solution is proper, scientific waste management. Municipal corporations must be made responsible for collecting all waste from every home and securely processing it so that dogs cannot get to it. At the same time, the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program, which sterilises dogs to control their population, must be made much bigger and faster. Starting a third ABC centre in Srinagar is a good step, but it is too slow when the city alone has over 64,000 stray dogs. The government must treat this as a top-priority mission. It needs to provide enough money and support to run high-capacity sterilisation and vaccination drives in every district. Plans for such drives in Jammu must be carried out quickly and openly. Public awareness and quick response systems are also vital. People need to know how to live safely around dogs and how to report aggressive animals. The health department must guarantee that vaccines for rabies are available in every hospital and health centre, even in remote areas, to prevent deaths. No single department can fix this crisis alone. It needs a united effort from all government bodies—the city councils, the health department, the animal husbandry department—and the community itself. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have the right to walk on their streets without fear. The government must tackle this with the same urgency as a major health campaign. It must combine fast sterilisation work with long-term cleanliness solutions. Every day we wait, more children, the elderly, and citizens are at risk of being hurt by a threat that can be stopped.