Stray dog menace — RTI to Municipal Veterinary Officer

Sunita lives in Ward 14 of a Class-II city in Maharashtra. For six months the street outside her building has become a stray-dog hotspot. The pack has grown from four dogs to eleven. Two children and a food-delivery rider were bitten in May 2026; one old dog in the lane has begun snapping at shadows and drooling — the classic signs the municipal vet later confirmed as a suspected rabies case. No sterilisation van has been seen in the locality for over a year. None of the dogs carries the 'V' ear-notch that marks a sterilised animal. Repeated verbal complaints to the ward office and the municipal veterinary office have produced only one answer: “we will look into it.”

Sunita is not alone. India recorded 37,17,336 dog-bite cases in 2024, according to National Rabies Control Program data placed before the Lok Sabha on 22 July 2025. Human rabies deaths rose to 180 in 2024, up from 121 in 2023 and 22 in 2022. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh reported the highest death counts. The World Health Organization estimates India carries about 36 per cent of the global rabies burden — roughly 18,000 to 20,000 deaths a year, most of them unreported.

The dogs are real. The bites are real. What is missing is the paper trail — the simple municipal record that says: how many dogs were sterilised in this ward, when, by whom, at what cost, and what happened to the complaints the residents filed. That paper trail is your right under the Right to Information Act, 2005. This guide shows you exactly how to get it, using only verified facts about the law as it stands in 2026.

Stray-dog management in India is governed by two layers of law. The parent Act is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960. The operational rules are the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2023, notified on 10 March 2023 as G.S.R. 193(E) by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying / Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD). The 2023 Rules supersede the older ABC (Dog) Rules, 2001.

The single most important thing to know: the legal method for stray-dog management is Capture-Sterilise-Vaccinate-Release (CSVR). Killing or relocating stray dogs is prohibited, except for rabid or terminally ill dogs. A sterilised dog is ear-notched with a 'V' cut on the right ear, geo-tagged, and released back at the same location it was captured from. This is not optional — it is the statutory method laid down in Rule 11 of the ABC Rules, 2023.

The rules place the legal responsibility squarely on the local authority — your Municipal Corporation, Municipality, or Panchayat:

1. Rule 5 — no Animal Birth Control programme may be run without a Certificate of Project Recognition from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). If a local authority fails to apply for recognition within six months, it must discontinue its ABC programme.
2. Rule 8 — the local authority is responsible for deworming, immunisation and sterilisation of street animals (the owner is responsible for pet animals). The local authority may engage a recognised Animal Welfare Organisation (AWO) to do the work.
3. Rule 9 — a three-tier monitoring structure: a Central ABC Monitoring and Coordination Committee, a State ABC Implementation and Monitoring Committee, and a Local ABC Monitoring Committee at every local authority. The Local Committee is chaired ex-officio by the Municipal Commissioner or Executive Officer.
4. Rule 10(3) — the Local Committee must meet at least once a month, collect dog-bite data from hospitals, conduct a dog census, and target sterilisation of at least 70 per cent of dogs in each area.
5. Rule 11 — humane capture only (tongs and wire nooses are prohibited); puppies under six months and females with litters under two months are not captured; minimum four days of post-operative kennel care; release at the same spot with date, time and place recorded and geo-tagged.
6. Rules 12-13 — daily capture/release/treatment/vaccination/mortality records, 30-day CCTV footage retention, monthly reports to the Local Monitoring Committee, and an annual report to AWBI by 31 May each year.

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is the oversight body. Since the 17 June 2019 Cabinet Secretariat transfer, AWBI sits under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (earlier it was under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). AWBI is itself a “public authority” under the RTI Act and holds the recognition registers, ABC grant records, and annual implementation reports of every local body. Its office is at 42 KM Stone, Delhi-Agra Highway, NH-2, Village Seekri, Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Haryana – 121004 (contact: 0129-2555700; [email protected]).

To file a sharp RTI, you need to know how the process is supposed to run. The ABC programme in your ward should work like this:

1. The Municipal Corporation obtains (or is supposed to obtain) a Certificate of Project Recognition from AWBI under Rule 5.
2. It engages one or more AWBI-recognised Animal Welfare Organisations to catch, sterilise, vaccinate and release dogs.
3. Each dog is captured humanely, taken to a kennel, operated on, given anti-rabies vaccine, ear-notched with a 'V' on the right ear, geo-tagged, kept for at least four days, and released at the same location with the date, time and place recorded.
4. The local authority maintains a sterilisation register, a vaccination register, a complaint register, and daily capture/release/mortality records.
5. The Local ABC Monitoring Committee meets at least once a month, reviews these records, tracks dog-bite data from local hospitals, and sends a monthly report upward; an annual report goes to AWBI by 31 May.
6. Central financial assistance flows at Rs.800 per dog and Rs.600 per cat to SPCAs and local bodies, with a one-time grant of Rs.2 crore for State veterinary hospitals.

Every one of these steps generates a paper record. That paper record is what you ask for in your RTI. If the records do not exist, that itself is the answer — it proves the local authority is not running the ABC programme the law requires.

Two things have changed recently that directly affect your RTI.

First, the Supreme Court order of 7 November 2025. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Christi issued directions in the suo-moto matter “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price.” The order modified an earlier 11 August 2025 interim order (which had temporarily barred release-back). The November 2025 position, now the binding interim law, is:

1. Sterilised dogs are to be released back into the same locality, in line with the ABC Rules, 2023 — except rabid or genuinely aggressive dogs.
2. Stray dogs are to be removed from institutional areas — schools, hospitals, sports complexes, railway stations and bus stands — with no release-back there.
3. The NHAI was directed to remove cattle and stray animals from highways.
4. The directions extend to all States and Union Territories.

The matter is listed for further hearing. The practical point: do not ask your municipality to “remove all dogs from the street” — that is no longer the law. Ask instead whether the ABC programme is being run as the Rules and the November 2025 order require.

Second, the 21 July 2025 joint advisory. The Ministries of Urban Affairs, Panchayati Raj, and Animal Husbandry jointly wrote to all Chief Secretaries on stray-dog management, flagged the rising bite numbers, and reiterated CSVR compliance. This advisory is useful context to attach to your RTI — it shows the Centre has put State governments on notice.

You will usually file one application to the local authority — the Municipal Corporation, Municipality or Gram Panchayat — addressed to the Municipal Veterinary Officer / PIO. If your local body is silent, a second application to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) gets you the recognition and grant records from the Central side.

Step 1 — Identify the public authority.

1. Primary (local): The Public Information Officer, Office of the Municipal Veterinary Officer, [Your City] Municipal Corporation / Municipality / Gram Panchayat. Mark a copy to the Local ABC Monitoring Committee.
2. Oversight (Central): The Central Public Information Officer, Animal Welfare Board of India, 42 KM Stone, NH-2, Village Seekri, Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Haryana – 121004.

Step 2 — Prepare your questions. Ask for specific, dated records tied to rule numbers. Five strong sample questions:

1. Sterilisation register: “Furnish the sterilisation register for [Ward name/number] for the last 12 months under Rule 11 and Rule 12 of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023 — date, time and place of capture and release of each dog, geo-tags, and ear-notch details.”
2. Vaccination register: “Furnish the anti-rabies vaccination register for [Ward] for the last 12 months, including the number of dogs vaccinated, vaccine batch numbers, and dates, under Rule 8 and Rule 11 of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023.”
3. Complaint-action register: “Furnish all complaints received regarding stray dogs in [Ward] for the last 12 months and the action-taken report on each, under Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005.”
4. NGO list and payments: “Furnish the list of AWBI-recognised Animal Welfare Organisations engaged by the Corporation for ABC in [Ward], with copies of contracts, recognition certificates, and payments made to each in the last 12 months, under Rule 5 of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023.”
5. Monitoring Committee: “Furnish the constitution, meeting minutes and attendance of the Local ABC Monitoring Committee for the last 12 months under Rule 9 and Rule 10(3) of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023, together with the dog-census data and the 70-per-cent sterilisation-target progress for [Ward].”

Step 3 — Use the right form and fee. A municipality is a State public authority, so your State RTI Rules apply. Most States (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, etc.) charge Rs.10; a few differ. The safe default is an Indian Postal Order for Rs.10 drawn in favour of the “Accounts Officer, [Your City] Municipal Corporation” (or the equivalent finance officer). BPL applicants are exempt from the fee. If your State has an online RTI portal (Maharashtra Aaple Sarkar, Karnataka K2, Delhi e-RTI), you can file and pay electronically there — the Central portal rtionline.gov.in cannot file to a State municipality. See RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) for the State-wise fee and payment-mode table.

Step 4 — Submit and keep proof. File by hand at the PIO's office and take a stamped receiving copy, or send by registered post and keep the acknowledgement, or file online and save the registration number. Proof of submission is your protection if the reply is delayed.

Step 5 — Wait 30 days. The PIO must reply within 30 days under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act. If a rabid or aggressive dog has been identified and life or liberty is at risk, the reply is due in 48 hours — say so explicitly in your application and cite Section 7(1).

RTI is powerful because it has a built-in ladder. If the Municipal Veterinary Officer ignores you or gives a vague reply, you do not stop there.

1. First appeal: If no reply comes within 30 days (or you are unhappy with the reply), file a First Appeal under Section 19(1) with the designated First Appellate Authority in the same Municipal Corporation. Do this within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period. The FAA must decide within 30 days (extendable to 45). Use the First Appeal tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html to draft it.
2. Second appeal / complaint: If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) or a complaint under Section 18 with your State Information Commission. There is usually no fee for a second appeal. For the AWBI application, the second appeal goes to the Central Information Commission.
3. Penalty and compensation: Under Section 20, the Information Commission can impose a penalty of up to Rs.25,000 on the PIO and award you compensation. Cite the June 2025 CIC order in Akshay Kumar Malhotra v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari), where the CIC imposed a Rs.25,000 penalty on the MCD veterinary officer (deducted from salary) and Rs.10,000 compensation to the applicant for “determined and deliberate resistance to disclosure” of ABC records. That order held that sterilisation data, payments to NGOs, contracts with AWOs, monitoring committee details, shelter/kennel information, complaints received and action-taken reports are all disclosable under RTI and must be proactively published under Section 4(1)(b).

The PIO reply checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html helps you test whether the reply you got is complete or evasive, and the timeline calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html works out your exact appeal deadlines.

1. A copy of any complaint you earlier made to the municipal veterinary office or ward office (with its dated acknowledgement), to show you have already tried the grievance route.
2. Photographs of dog-bite injuries, the un-notched dogs, or the suspected rabid dog — attach as annexure, not as the body of the RTI.
3. The Indian Postal Order for Rs.10 (or the online payment receipt), drawn in favour of the Accounts Officer of the municipal body.
4. A BPL certificate if you are claiming the fee exemption.
5. A copy of the 21 July 2025 joint advisory and the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023 notification (optional but useful — it signals you know the law).

1. Asking the municipality to “remove” or “relocate” all stray dogs. This is not what the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023 or the 7 November 2025 Supreme Court order permit. The legal method is sterilise-vaccinate-release-back. Only institutional areas (schools, hospitals, stations) get no release-back. A request framed as “remove the dogs” lets the PIO reply that the law does not allow removal — and reject the premise. Frame your ask around the records the law requires instead.
2. Filing only at the ward office. Ward offices implement but often do not hold the sterilisation register or the NGO-payment records. File at the Municipal Veterinary Officer / municipal headquarters PIO and, if needed, a second application to AWBI.
3. Asking vague questions. “Give me details of stray dog control” gets you a brochure. Ask for named registers with dates and rule numbers — the Rule 11/12 sterilisation register, the Rule 9/10(3) Monitoring Committee minutes.
4. Forgetting Section 4(1)(b) suo motu disclosure. The CIC has held that ABC records must be proactively published. If your municipal body has not put them on its website, your RTI forces compliance — mention Section 4(1)(b) in the application.
5. Missing the 48-hour life-liberty window. If a rabid dog has been identified in your lane, say so in the application and invoke Section 7(1) (48-hour reply where life or liberty is at risk). Otherwise you will wait the full 30 days.
6. Skipping the First Appeal. Most applicants give up after a bad first reply. The First Appeal is free, fast, and is where most withheld records actually come out.

To
The Public Information Officer
Office of the Municipal Veterinary Officer
[Your City] Municipal Corporation / Municipality
[City, Pincode]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 —
Animal Birth Control programme records for [Ward name/number]

Sir/Madam,

Under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, I, [Name], resident of [Full address], seek the following information concerning the Animal Birth Control (Dog) programme in [Ward name/number], as mandated by the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2023 notified on 10 March 2023:

1. Furnish the sterilisation register for [Ward] for the last 12 months under Rule 11 and Rule 12 of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023 — date, time and place of capture and release of each dog, geo-tags, and ear-notch details.

2. Furnish the anti-rabies vaccination register for [Ward] for the last 12 months under Rule 8 and Rule 11 — number of dogs vaccinated, vaccine batch numbers, and dates.

3. Furnish all complaints received regarding stray dogs in [Ward] for the last 12 months and the action-taken report on each, as required under Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005.

4. Furnish the list of AWBI-recognised Animal Welfare Organisations engaged by the Corporation for ABC in [Ward], with copies of contracts, recognition certificates, and payments made to each in the last 12 months, under Rule 5 of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023.

5. Furnish the constitution, meeting minutes and attendance of the Local ABC Monitoring Committee for the last 12 months under Rule 9 and Rule 10(3) of the ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023, together with the dog-census data and the 70-per-cent sterilisation-target progress for [Ward].

As required under Section 10 of the RTI Act, 2005, I do not propose to use the information to the detriment of any third party.

If a rabid or aggressive dog has been identified in the locality and life or liberty is at risk, I request a reply within 48 hours under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005; otherwise, I request the information within 30 days as mandated by Section 7(1).

The fee of Rs.10 is paid herewith by Indian Postal Order No. [____] dated [____] drawn in favour of the Accounts Officer, [Your City] Municipal Corporation.

In case the information is denied, I may be provided the opportunity to file a First Appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act, 2005. The details of the First Appellate Authority may kindly be furnished.

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Full address]
[Phone / email]

For ward-level records (sterilisation register, vaccination register, complaint-action register, NGO payments for your ward), the correct PIO is the Municipal Veterinary Officer of your Municipal Corporation, Municipality or Gram Panchayat. For recognition certificates, ABC grant utilisation, and annual implementation reports that local bodies submit upward, file to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), which is the Central oversight public authority. Filing both in parallel prevents the “approach the other authority” deflection.

No. The ABC (Dog) Rules, 2023 and the Supreme Court order of 7 November 2025 require sterilise-vaccinate-release-back at the same location for ordinary streets. Removal without release-back applies only to institutional areas — schools, hospitals, sports complexes, railway stations and bus stands. Asking for blanket removal lets the PIO reject the premise; ask for the records that show whether the ABC programme is being run correctly instead.

Yes. Section 7(1) of the RTI Act requires a reply within 48 hours where the information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person. If a rabid or genuinely aggressive dog has been identified in your locality, state this explicitly in your application and invoke Section 7(1). Attach any veterinary or medical confirmation you have. Otherwise, the standard 30-day clock applies.

A municipality is a State public authority, so your State RTI Rules apply. Most States charge Rs.10; a few differ. The safe default is an Indian Postal Order for Rs.10 in favour of the Accounts Officer of the municipal body. Below-Poverty-Line applicants are exempt from the fee on production of a BPL certificate. If your State has an online RTI portal, you can pay by net banking, card or UPI. The Central rtionline.gov.in portal cannot file to a State municipality.

File a First Appeal under Section 19(1) with the First Appellate Authority of the same municipal body within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period. If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) or a complaint under Section 18 with your State Information Commission. Under Section 20, the Commission can impose a penalty of up to Rs.25,000 on the PIO and award you compensation — as it did against the MCD veterinary officer in the June 2025 Akshay Kumar Malhotra order.

Yes. The Central Information Commission has specifically held that ABC programme records — sterilisation and vaccination data, payments to NGOs, contracts with AWOs, monitoring committee details, shelter/kennel information, complaints received and action-taken reports, and expenditure of public funds — must be proactively published under Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act. If your municipal body has not put them on its website, your RTI forces compliance.

Yes. The records you obtain — the sterilisation and vaccination register, the complaint-action register showing your earlier complaint was ignored, and the Local Monitoring Committee minutes showing the 70-per-cent target was not met — form the documentary base for a civil compensation claim against the municipal body and for any criminal complaint where the bite involved a rabid dog. RTI is the cheapest way to build that evidence file.

Cattle on public roads are governed by municipal cattle-pound byelaws and the PCA Act, 1960. The same municipal PIO can be asked for the cattle-impound register, the number of cattle seized from your ward, and the fine realised. The 7 November 2025 Supreme Court order also directed the NHAI to remove cattle and stray animals from highways — useful to cite for highway-adjacent wards. For animal-vaccination scheme records, see cattle-vaccination-animal-health-scheme-benefit-not-received.

No. The RTI Act is designed for citizens to use directly. The sample letter above, the rule numbers, and the fee are all you need. The RTI for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know Before Filing Your guide walks through the basics, and the AI RTI draft tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html will assemble a correctly-addressed application from your ward details.

1. Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2023 — G.S.R. 193(E), notified 10 March 2023, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying: [dahd.gov.in](https://dahd.gov.in/) and full text [globalanimallaw.org](https://www.globalanimallaw.org/downloads/database/national/india/animal-birth-control-rules-2023.pdf)
2. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (Section 11(3)(b), Section 38): [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/114520156/)
3. AWBI — Implementation of Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 (circular dated 1 October 2024): [awbi.gov.in](https://awbi.gov.in/uploads/regulations/172949592201Implementation%20of%20Animal%20Birth%20Control%20Rules,%202023%2001-10-2024.pdf)
4. Animal Welfare Board of India — constitution and contact: [awbi.gov.in](https://awbi.gov.in/view/index/constitution) and [awbi.gov.in contact](https://awbi.gov.in/view/index/contact-us)
5. Animal Welfare Board of India v. People for Elimination of Stray Troubles, SLP(C) No. 691 of 2009 — Supreme Court order dated 18 November 2015: [sci.gov.in](https://www.sci.gov.in/document/animal-welfare-board-of-india-vs-people-for-elimination-of-stray-troubles-and-ors-slpc-691-of-2009-pdf/)
6. Supreme Court order dated 7 November 2025 in “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price” (2025/41706): [api.sci.gov.in](https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2025/41706/41706_2025_3_301_65687_Judgement_07-Nov-2025.pdf) and Live Law report [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/stray-dog-issue-supreme-court-lists-matter-for-final-hearing-on-february-28-246390)
7. CIC order, June 2025, IC Vinod Kumar Tiwari — Akshay Kumar Malhotra v. MCD (Rs.25,000 penalty, Rs.10,000 compensation): [newsdrum.in](https://www.newsdrum.in/national/cic-cites-deliberate-resistance-orders-mcd-to-disclose-stray-dog-records-ngo-payments-12010960) and [indianexpress.com](https://indianexpress.com/article/legal-news/mcd-veterinary-officer-fined-25000-over-stray-dog-info-delay-10725172/)
8. Mahajit Singh v. Animal Welfare Board of India, CIC/SA/A/2016/000661/MP, decided 21 June 2017: [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/77781508/)
9. Lok Sabha reply, 22 July 2025 — 37,17,336 dog-bite cases in 2024 and 54 suspected rabies deaths: [thehindu.com](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/over-37-lakh-dog-bite-cases-54-human-rabies-deaths-in-2024-govt-tells-lok-sabha/article69842885.ece)
10. Animal Husbandry Ministry reply, 5 August 2025 — 180 human rabies deaths in 2024: [thehindu.com](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/manifold-increase-in-rabies-deaths-in-two-years-centre/article69898162.ece)
11. Joint advisory dated 21 July 2025 — Ministries of Urban Affairs, Panchayati Raj and Animal Husbandry on stray-dog management; Central assistance Rs.800/dog, Rs.600/cat, Rs.2 crore one-time grant: [thehindu.com](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/over-37-lakh-dog-bite-cases-54-human-rabies-deaths-in-2024-govt-tells-lok-sabha/article69842885.ece)
12. AWBI online Cruelty Complaint portal: [awbi.gov.in](https://awbi.gov.in/cruelty-complaint)
13. Central RTI online portal: [rtionline.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)

1. RTI for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know Before Filing Your
2. RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026)
3. Encroachment in your area — RTI to file and track removal
4. Property tax receipt missing — RTI to municipal corporation
5. municipal-stop-work-demolition-notice-home-renovation
6. occupancy-certificate-application-delayed-municipal-office
7. cattle-vaccination-animal-health-scheme-benefit-not-received
8. livestock-insurance-claim-rejected-animal-death

Last reviewed: 4 July 2026.