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Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has pulled up most states for ignoring its directions on stray dog control, except Telangana and West Bengal who filed its affidavits. According to officials, three affidavits are to be sent under the Animal Birth Control Rules of 2023 which includes the animal husbandry department, GHMC and rural local bodies. As per these affidavits, Hyderabad has, officials note, more sterilised dogs than any other metropolitan city, estimating over 3 lakhs of 3.8 lakh strays under GHMC control sterilised and over 40,000 more in smaller towns. Dr Jasleen Kaur, a Hyderabad veterinarian, called sterilisation a strong public health tool when supported by tracking and vaccination. “Goa is proof. They track every vaccinated dog and revaccinate yearly. That is why the state is rabies free,” she said. For Telangana, officials count roughly three lakh dog bite cases in recent years and around 36 deaths linked to rabies. Dr Kaur notes that the problem begins when a file breaks. “If a dog is dropped in the wrong area it gets bullied. A single missed record can undo the day’s work.”Srinivas Reddy, deputy director in GHMC’s Charminar zone echoed that release protocol, saying, each of the six zones conducts sterilisation every day and returns dogs to where they were caught. “Residents resist when we bring them back. But we counsel them, explain the Supreme Court rules, and release them in the same area.”While some resist bringing these dogs back, others who feed them have made a life around them. Suzana Sulekha Neeraj Kumar, who cooks for about 15 strays near her duplex and spends around `20,000 a month on food and medicines. “People argue. I still cook. It is food for the hungry.” This is where Hyderabad and most metropolitans lie, stuck between a clash between civic disputes and animal compassion. However, when it comes to feeders and rescuers, Telangana High Court recently gave Hyderabad rescuer Kameshwari Pidaparth 60 days to rehome 28 dogs kept in a flat. That order recognised care and still drew a line around space and safety. Dr Kaur pointed to the rules that speak to the dog’s basic freedoms. “Good intentions are not always enough,” she said. “Each animal needs room. Without it you get fights for resources.” Reddy described the city’s civic tools on the same theme. GHMC issues pet licences, provides free anti rabies vaccines, and works with NGOs that run most rescue and shelter activity. None of those answers the question of how many dogs can live inside one apartment without harm.Education and awareness drives are important in such cases. Reddy also spoke of school sessions where staff teach children how to behave when a dog approaches and of pamphlets for colony associations that outline do and do not steps. Dr Kaur meets the aftermath in clinics that see both ends of the system, from well run centres that send back healthy dogs to cases of tick fever and weakness that follow a rough recovery. “Most centres follow protocol. A few careless ones spoil the picture,” she said. Suzanne watches the same cycle on the pavement and keeps her pot on the stove.Hyderabad’s figures may satisfy a court, but its streets reveal the harder work of coexistence. The city keeps sterilising, vaccinating, educating, and still the argument between fear and empathy stays unresolved. If Hyderabad can learn to hold that balance between order, care, and the stray lives that live among it, it might finally find a version of control that looks less like punishment and more like understanding.
