The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which were announced last month, have been requested by the Centre to be "effectively" implemented by states due to an increase in human casualty cases involving stray dogs. Municipal corporations are also required to implement anti-rabies programmes, according to the Centre.

The action was taken after an elderly person was fatally mauled by six to seven stray dogs in a park on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus last week. But that wasn't the only event of its kind to occur recently. In March, a family in southwest Delhi's Vasant Kunj neighbourhood lost both of their sons, who were seven and five years old, within a two-day period. The stray dogs killed both of the kids by mauling them. 

According to the ministry of animal husbandry, the new ABC Rules and the Center's notification to states on Tuesday, "by effectively implementing these Rules, local bodies can conduct the animal birth control programme that will help in reducing the stray dog population.

"The Animal Birth Control Rules 2001 laid down the law for the only viable dog population management mechanism but its implementation was scanty and monitoring was altogether absent over two decades. The ABC Rules 2023 not only bridges these gaps effectively but also addresses new challenges such as cat population management and resolution of conflicts," said Gauri Maulekhi, animal welfare expert. 

“Aggression in dogs is due to specific hormonal or environmental reasons. Neutering them not only controls population growth but also reduces aggression- female dogs don’t need to protect their litter and males don’t get into mating fights, incidents of conflict are highest in places where the ABC programme has not been initiated and dogs are regularly killed or relocated from their territories causing them to become more hostile.” 

Source: Times Of India