THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With stray dog bite incidents reaching alarming levels and growing rabies death raising concerns, the state government is stepping up efforts to expand shelter facilities, strengthen Animal Birth Control (ABC) programmes, and expedite compensation payouts for victims. Since 2023, the state government has settled 279 out of the 1,522 compensation cases filed by victims and have distributed around Rs 1.26 crore to the victims so far.
As per official records, 122 rabies deaths have been recorded in the state in five years and 28 rabies deaths reported so far this year. With the Supreme Court tightening its noose, the state is attempting to adopt a shelter based stray dog management with five local bodies including Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kollam and Tripunithura coming up with shelter plans.
The state has reported around 15 lakh dog bite cases over the past five years, including nearly 3 lakh cases in 2025 alone. Raising concerns, during the same period, the state recorded around 122 rabies deaths, with 28 deaths reported so far this year.
A senior official of LSGD told TNIE that since January 2026, around Rs 5 lakh has already been paid as compensation. “There is no respite in the number of bite incidents getting reported. The compensation mechanism has now been decentralised under the District Legal Services Authority to expedite the compensation applications. Each district now has its own stray dog victim compensation recommendation committee comprising officials from local bodies, health and animal husbandry departments,” said the official.
At present, sheltering initiatives have begun in five local bodies in the state. “Thiruvananthapuram corporation has already started shelter operations in collaboration with an NGO, while Tripunithura municipality is expected to begin functioning soon after completing infrastructure work.