From chaos to calm: How Bengal’s strays and people now share streets more peacefully - GetBengal Story
At a busy tea stall in North Kolkata, a group of strays nap lazily in the shade. One of them, a caramel-coated dog with gentle eyes, stretches and ambles towards a man sipping tea. Instead of shooing him away, the man tears off a piece of biscuit and tosses it gently. A few years ago, this same lane had a reputation for dog bite scares. Today, there is a quiet calm.
That calm is not accidental. It is the outcome of years of slow, steady work. Animal Resources Development Department, Government of West Bengal, recently released data that tells a story worth pausing for. Between January and July this year, 10,264 cases of dog bites were reported across the state. The number may still sound large, but when set against the 76,486 cases in 2024, the 48,664 in 2023, and the 22,627 in 2022, the shift feels almost dramatic.
The reason, officials say, is simple: sterilization and adoption. Every year, around 5,000 stray dogs in Bengal undergo sterilization surgery. The procedure doesn’t just control the population; it makes the dogs calmer, less territorial, and less likely to attack. Slowly but surely, the aggressive packs that once roamed neighbourhoods are thinning, replaced by smaller groups of gentler, healthier dogs. Since 2022, there has been only one rabies-related death reported in the state — a figure that once felt impossible in India.
Across the rest of the country, though, the story is less reassuring. Over four lakh dog bite cases have already been reported this year. Gujarat leads with 53,942 cases, followed closely by Karnataka and Bihar. Even though the Livestock Census shows a national dip from 11.4 lakh cases in 2019 to 10 lakh in 2022, the scale of the problem remains daunting.
Bengal’s progress, then, stands out. And it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about parents who no longer have to rush a bleeding child to the hospital at midnight. It’s about neighbourhood children who can play cricket on the street without flinching at a bark. It’s about the strays themselves — dogs once feared, now calmer, sometimes adopted, often fed, and occasionally loved.
The bond between humans and strays in Bengal has always been complicated — a mix of fear, frustration, and affection. But these recent changes suggest something hopeful. That with patience, policy, and compassion, coexistence doesn’t just become possible; it becomes natural.
And perhaps that’s the real success here. Not just fewer bite cases, but more wagging tails, more small acts of kindness, and a little more trust on both sides of the street.
