As horrific videos of dogs with dead newborns go viral, MP scampers for a solution

Bhopal: Two videos in the last five days showing stray dogs with the bodies of newborn babies and their menacing presence in and around hospitals has become a topic of intense debate in Madhya Pradesh, with officials and NGOs emphasising the need for a sustained campaign to control the canine population.

Some even blamed it on the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which they claimed had reduced availability of food in the open for strays.

The state, with a population of 7.26 crore as per the 2011 Census or at least nine crore now, may be home to 47.36 lakh canines, which makes it a man to dog ratio of 19:1, a government veterinarian official told news agency on Monday.

While MP Urban Development Department Principal Secretary Sanjay Shukla said his department does not have official figures of the number of strays, he acknowledged that measures were being taken to limit their population.

On March 11, a stray dog was seen holding a dead newborn in its jaws in a congested area of Rewa in the vicinity of a hospital, prompting the police to start a probe. The video was shot near Kabaddi Mohalla at Jaystambh Chowk under Civil Lines police station limits. This was the third incident in Rewa in the last one-and-a-half months in which a newborn baby was found dumped, police said.

Animal Welfare Board of India member Ram Krishan Raghuvanshi said the number of stray canines in Bhopal was around 85,000, while it was one lakh in Indore, the country’s cleanest city.