In order to control conflicts between humans and street dogs, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to implement a plan at the local level. After the headcount of stray dogs, BMC will set up ward-level sterilisation programmes wherever the dog population is high. The city reported 3.52 lakh dog bite cases from 2018 to 2022.

“We are hoping to start the dog census in June. It will run for 2-3 months,” said a BMC official.  “We will gather data like the number of dogs in every ward along with gender, number of sterilised dogs and pregnant dogs,” the official added. “The data will help us know where we need to strengthen the sterilisation programme. We have finalised the Humane Society International for the dog census,” said Dr K L Pathan, head of BMC’s Animal Husbandry Department.