Whose responsibility is a stray dog and what a human must do if he is attacked knowing the dog bite can take his life?
Obeida Ashraf
The growing reports of rabid and aggressive dog attacks across India and Kashmir are no longer isolated incidents. Children walking to school, elderly people returning from mosques or markets, women carrying groceries, cyclists, sanitation workers, and even tourists are increasingly becoming victims of stray dog attacks. Fear has entered streets, parks, hospital compounds, and residential colonies.
At the same time, another reality also exists, dogs are living beings. They suffer hunger, disease, abandonment, injury, and cruelty. Many were once pets thrown onto the streets. Others multiply because of poor waste management and failed sterilization systems. Thus, the issue is not merely “dogs versus humans.” It is a test of whether society can protect human life without becoming cruel toward animals.The answer lies in the middle path, humane control with uncompromising human safety.
A civilized society cannot normalize either extreme. On one side, allowing uncontrolled rabid dog populations in public spaces is dangerous and unjust. Human life, especially that of children and vulnerable citizens, must remain the highest priority. On the other side, mass cruelty, poisoning, or random killing of dogs reflects moral and administrative failure.
The first truth that must be accepted is that rabies is not an ordinary issue. Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. A single rabid dog can traumatize entire neighborhoods. Therefore, governments cannot treat stray dog management as a cosmetic municipal issue. It is a public health emergency requiring scientific, legal, and ethical intervention.
The second truth is equally important, stray dog explosions do not occur in isolation. Open garbage dumps, unregulated slaughter waste, leftover food around markets, hospitals, hotels, and residential colonies create breeding grounds for uncontrolled canine populations. In many Indian towns and Kashmiri localities, garbage management has collapsed while dog populations have multiplied. Humans indirectly manufacture the crisis and then react emotionally when tragedy occurs.The middle path therefore begins not with anger but with systems.
Municipal bodies must implement large-scale sterilization and anti-rabies vaccination drives continuously, not symbolically. Sterilization programs often fail because they are underfunded, irregular, corrupt, or geographically limited. A few sterilized dogs in one area cannot control populations spreading from dozens of untreated zones. Scientific population management requires district-level mapping, tagging, vaccination records, veterinary infrastructure, and monitoring.
Equally important is rapid response. A dog showing signs of rabies or repeated aggression cannot be left roaming freely in the name of activism or bureaucratic delay. Immediate capture, quarantine, testing, and humane handling must become mandatory. Human rights and animal rights are not enemies; both demand responsibility.
“Stray dog issues reflect broader systemic failures in urban management, public health, and waste control. Addressing this crisis requires a balanced, civilized approach: firmly protecting human safety—especially children—while humanely managing animal populations through scientific systems, institutional accountability, and compassion rather than violence.”
Hospitals too must be strengthened. Anti-rabies vaccines and immunoglobulin injections should be available in every district hospital and primary health center, especially in rural and mountainous areas of Kashmir where delayed treatment can cost lives. Public awareness is equally critical. Many people still rely on myths, local remedies, or delayed treatment after dog bites. Rabies leaves little room for negligence.
Schools can also play a role. Children should be taught basic behavioral safety around stray animals, avoiding provocation, not disturbing sleeping dogs, recognizing aggressive behavior, and immediately reporting bites or scratches. Awareness saves lives.
Another neglected dimension is urban planning. Cities increasingly expand without considering animal management infrastructure. Dedicated shelters, rescue centers, and veterinary emergency systems remain insufficient. Compassion without infrastructure becomes chaos; enforcement without compassion becomes brutality.
Animal rights groups and public safety advocates must also stop treating each other as enemies. The debate often becomes emotionally polarized. One side speaks only of compassion for dogs, while the other speaks only of fear and revenge. But sustainable solutions emerge only when both truths are acknowledged simultaneously: a frightened child matters, and unnecessary cruelty toward animals is wrong.
Countries that successfully reduced stray dog crises did not rely on slogans. They relied on scientific sterilization, strict waste management, pet ownership regulations, vaccination campaigns, adoption systems, and coordinated governance. India and Kashmir require the same seriousness.
There is also a moral lesson hidden beneath this crisis. Human beings often create disorder through neglect and then demand instant solutions after disaster strikes. Stray dogs are partly a mirror of administrative failure, urban disorder, food waste, and weak public health systems. The middle path, therefore, is neither indifference nor cruelty.
Protect humans firmly. Protect animals humanely. Punish negligence institutionally. Build systems scientifically. A society that cannot ensure safe streets for children fails morally. But a society that responds only with hatred and violence toward animals also loses part of its humanity. The real challenge is not choosing between dogs and humans. It is proving that civilization is mature enough to protect both.
(The author is a teacher by profession. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
