A scientific and humane approach, rather than emotional reactions, is essential for finding a lasting solution to the stray dog menace and rabies, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Bindhu Krishna has said.

Inaugurating a State-level workshop on “Sustainable Stray Dog Population Control and Rabies Prevention in Kerala” at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Mannuthy, on Friday (July 17, 2026), the Minister said the issue could be effectively addressed only through the “One Health” approach, integrating the efforts of the Animal Husbandry, Health, and Local Self-Governments departments.

Ms. Krishna said the government was seriously considering developing a unified digital pet management system to streamline the registration, licensing, microchipping, vaccination and sterilisation of pet dogs under the leadership of the Local Self-Governments department.

The Minister called for sustained implementation of animal birth control (ABC) and mass anti-rabies vaccination programmes to help Kerala achieve the national goal of eliminating human deaths due to rabies by 2030.

Decentralised model

The Minister also advocated a decentralised, ward-level model in which local bodies take responsibility for managing stray dog populations by effectively utilising government veterinary hospitals.

The workshop, jointly organised by KVASU, the Kerala Grama Panchayat Association and the Kerala State Veterinary Council, also featured technical sessions on successful stray dog management models, rabies prevention, animal welfare laws, and local body experiences. Organisers said the recommendations emerging from the workshop would be submitted to the State government.

Published – July 17, 2026 08:09 pm IST