Photos of stray dogs in Indian-controlled Kashmir and attempts to control their population

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Feroz Ahmed does not leave home for his early-morning walk without a stick. Now in his 60s, he is wary of stray dogs that live nearby, on the outskirts of Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“I carry a stick to protect myself from dogs,” he says.

While Ahmed has never been attacked by a stray before, others have.

A stray dog bit Rehmat Ashraf, 6, on the face outside her house in Srinagar. Plastic surgery has so far been unsuccessful in helping her fix her scar. Fazi, a 60-year-old resident of the nearby Surasyar village — who goes by one name — was attacked by stray dogs near her house. She survived but suffered multiple injuries to her neck, arms, legs and abdomen.

Many big cities in India are grappling with a stray dog problem. Estimates put their number in the capital, New Delhi, between 500,000 and 1 million. A municipal survey in 2023 found the city of Bengaluru, known for its high-tech industry, parks and nightlife, had 279,335 stray dogs.

India’s top court ordered last month that stray dogs in New Delhi be captured, sterilized, and put into shelters in an attempt to control their population and limit their attacks. After protests from animal welfare activists, the court revised its order and asked the municipal authorities to release the sterilized dogs in the same localities where they were captured.

In Srinagar, over 6,000 cases of dog bites were reported last year — more than 80% of them severe. The municipal authority here has begun an ambitious drive to catch and sterilize over 21,000 stray dogs by the end of 2026. Dog catchers use special applications and phone cameras to record the location of the capture of stray dogs so that they can be released in the same place after being sterilized.

Dawood Mohammad, who runs an animal rescue center in Srinagar with his wife Mariya Mushtaq, says that the stray dogs are not the menace they are made out to be.

“Stray dogs can be very affectionate if treated properly, but many people are too rough with them. When puppies are harassed, mothers can show aggression. Most of the bites come from female dogs with newborns,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Ashwini Bhatia in Dharamshala, India, contributed to this report.