T.N. to study feasibility of establishing shelters for street dogs

Following the Supreme Court’s direction to States and Union Territories to shelter street dogs instead of releasing them back on the streets, the Tamil Nadu government is planning to study the feasibility of establishing centres to house the animals. However, the move may take a few years as there is no financial support from the Centre, officials said.

According to a senior official at the Secretariat, as per the Supreme Court’s earlier order, controlling the street dog population involves Animal Birth Control (ABC) surgeries, regular vaccination against rabies, and the establishment of shelters. “The State is considering handing over land to non-governmental organisations to set up these shelters. However, the facilities may take four to five years to become operational, and it cannot be done immediately. Discussions are under way to systematically implement all three measures — ABC, vaccination, and sheltering — across the State,” the official said.

A study of veterinary institutions, doctors and NGOs across the State needs to be undertaken, and enumeration of dogs in public places has to begin in districts, as was done in Chennai. Only after this can a plan be prepared, another official in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department said.

According to data from the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board (TNAWB) released in January 2025, a survey conducted in 2024 found about 1.8 lakh stray dogs within the Greater Chennai Corporation limits; 25,000 in Erode; and 14,291 in Vellore. The last survey in Coimbatore recorded 1.11 lakh street dogs.

Shruti Vinod Raj, a member of the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board (TNAWB), said discussions to draft a feasibility plan for housing street dogs and controlling their population had been scheduled. “This is a challenging task as, so far, the ABC Rules 2023 issued by the Centre mandated releasing sterilised dogs back to the same location and did not permit permanent sheltering. The current Supreme Court direction appears contradictory to this, so it cannot be implemented immediately,” she said.

“There is also no financial support from the Centre for setting up such shelters, so funding sources need to be identified. Implementation may therefore take time,” she added.

Chennai Corporation

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will soon begin constructing two shelters — one in Vadaperumbakkam and another in Manali — for terminally ill and aggressive dogs, at an estimated cost of nearly ₹2 crore each. “Around 250 dogs could be sheltered in each unit. They will be housed in individual kennels, and NGOs will handle manpower and administration. The work order for construction has been issued, and the buildings will be completed within the next three months,” a GCC official said.

“To manage the population, aggressive dogs will be monitored periodically and released once they are found to have recovered, after which the next batch of ferocious dogs will be taken in. However, those suffering from rabies or canine distemper will remain permanently in the kennels,” he added.

“A survey conducted by volunteers of the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) and released in September 2024 by the GCC showed that Chennai’s street dog population stood at 1.8 lakh. So far, nearly 1.18 lakh dogs have been vaccinated since September 2025 through an intensive drive,” the official said.