Humane management of stray dogs: Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and rabies elimination plan
Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and the National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination frame India’s current stray dog management approach around sterilisation, vaccination, and shelter infrastructure.
- The Ministry said the Government has notified the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and has asked States and Union Territories to implement the Animal Birth Control Programme in letter and spirit.
- The scheme may support dog shelters, animal shelters, and animal birth control centres, and it treats sterilisation and vaccination as reform-linked measures.
- The plan is being implemented with stakeholder ministries under a One Health approach to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
What happened
The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has said that the Government has notified the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. The stated purpose is humane and scientific management of street dogs through sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination.
The Ministry has also linked stray-dog management with the National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination, which is being implemented with stakeholder ministries under a One Health approach to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
UPSC may frame the issue around the balance between animal welfare, local-body capacity, rabies control, and compliance with Supreme Court directions. The topic connects a statutory rule set, the One Health framework, and implementation challenges for States and Union Territories.
Related dispatches
