Odisha Sees 75% Rise In Dog-Bite Menace; 777 Canine Attacks Daily In 22 Months

Bhubaneswar: A total of 5.20 lakh dog bite cases were reported in Odisha between January 2023 and October 2024, Minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources Minister Gokula Nanda Mallik told the Assembly on Wednesday.

This comes down to 777 canine attacks in a day.

While replying to a query by Congress’ Rayagada MLA Kadraka Appala Swamy, Mallik mentioned about 5,20,237 dog bite cases in those 22 months. While 2,59,107 dog bite cases were reported in 2023, 2,43,565 such cases were recorded from January to October of 2024.

He added that the 2,43,565 individuals were victims of dog bites in the last 10 months alone. The maximum number of such cases at 33,547, 32,561 and 29,801 were reported during January, February and March of 2024, respectively.

According to the 2019 Livestock Census, Odisha has the second highest number of stray dogs (17.34 lakh).

The minister further stated that efforts to address the issue were underway. Around 4,605 stray dogs were sterilised in eight urban areas of Odisha during 2022-23 under Animal Birth Control programme through organisations, which got project recognition certificates from the Animal Welfare Board of India, he said.

Plans are in full swing to make Odisha rabies-free by 2030, he added.

Odisha had seen 64,642 dog bite cases in the year 2022 while it was 59,085 in 2021.