Odisha has over 17 lakh street dogs, 2nd highest in country

There are 17,34399 street dogs in Odisha as per the Livestock Census conducted in 2019, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Parshottam Rupala told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. 

The Union Minister told this in a written reply to a question asked by Kottayam MP Thomas Chazhikadan on the number of canine population in the country.   

As per the reply of the Minister, Odisha had 86,2520 street dogs in 2012 as per the Livestock Census which has increased to 17,34,399 in 2019. Uttar Pradesh is home to the highest number of street dogs in the country with the number as high as 20,59,261. 

"The data for number of street dog in the country is collected through Livestock Census which is conducted in every five year. As per the Census, the number of street dogs has declined from 171.4 lakh in 2012 in 19th Census to 153.1 lakh in 20th Census conducted during 2019," Minister Parshottam Rupala stated. 

As per the State-wise data, Maharashtra has third highest number 1276399 street dogs in the country. Rajasthan stood fourth in the list with 1275596 stray dogs followed by Karnataka (1141173). 

Moreover, West Bengal (1140165) and Madhya Pradesh (1009076) have more than 10 lakh canine population living on the streets.

The Minister further informed that there is no provision for financial aid to compensate the victims suffering loss due to accident or killed due to street dogs.