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Less than 150 metres from Yacharam’s gram panchayat office, a butcher is busy at work while a litter of puppies, swarmed by flies, scuttled around his feet. “Their mother is no more. They just hang out here,” he told TNM.
This was three weeks after Yacharam’s gram panchayat allegedly decided to kill stray dogs for the ‘nuisance they posed’. Yacharam was one of the first villages in Telangana to have witnessed mass dog killings.
Yacharam is one of the 27 mandals in Telangana’s Rangareddy district. The gram panchayat office in the mandal caters to the needs of four villages, including a village named Yacharam.
On January 21, animal rights activist Preethi Mudavath, associated with the NGO Stray Animal Foundation of India, gave a complaint to the Yacharam police station claiming that around 100 stray dogs had been killed using lethal injections.
Yacharam police registered an FIR against three individuals under section 325 (mischief by killing or maiming an animal) read with sections 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 11(1)(a)(i) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The complaint accused Yacharam’s sarpanch Anitha Sharanam, village secretary Kishan and a ward member as the accused. However, they have not been named in the FIR.
This complaint fits a broader pattern.
In January, the Stray Animal Foundation of India alleged that nearly 500 stray dogs were killed and buried in different parts of Telangana. Subsequently, activists lodged complaints with police stations in Kamareddy, Hanamkonda, and Jagtial districts.
TNM visited Yacharam to understand what prompted the FIR, if there was any truth to the killings and what problem stray dogs pose to residents.
The stray dog ‘menace’ story
Pointing to the butcher shop near the gram panchayat office, J Anjaiah, a ward member in Yacharam, claimed that this was one of the major reasons stray dogs had become unruly. “Butchers and even residents discard bits of uncooked meat and leftover food haphazardly. The dogs eat them and then when they suddenly go without food, they turn on the residents,” he said.
Anjaiah’s view is one which several animal rights activists have repeatedly disagreed with. They maintain that dogs do not become aggressive due to overconsumption of meat, nor do they attack when they suddenly go without food.
But the problem continues.
“You won’t see many of them during the afternoon. But before 10 am or after 4 pm, there are groups of dogs running around in packs. People get bitten and attacked quite regularly here,” Anjaiah added.
Another Yacharam resident, Yadaiah, who runs a small eatery, spoke about how he was attacked last year outside his house. “One of the four or five dogs in the area bit my left leg and I had to seek treatment. It wasn’t that troubling. But my three-year-old son was attacked as well. He was petrified,” he said.
His son, Pranav Tej, was playing inside their home when a dog entered and attacked him. “The child’s right eyelid was bleeding profusely. He did not go to school for nearly two months,” Yadaiah added.
Venkatesh, a hospital worker in Yacharam, told TNM that in February of 2023 around 30 people in one locality of Yacharam were attacked by just a single stray. “We administered first aid but ambulances had to be brought in from outside for some of the severe cases,” he added.
The problem, residents state, isn't limited to just attacks on human beings. “None of us are keen on killing any living being. But farmers and goat herders also face problems. It is a question of livelihood for several farmers who depend on goats.” Anjaiah said, recalling a Yacharam couple who had lost their pregnant goat to a stray dog attack.
Suvarna Rani, an ASHA worker in Yacharam, recalled a gram panchayat meeting regarding the stray dog problem.
“In our village alone, I know of 20 people who were attacked and had to take anti-rabies vaccines. Before Dussehra, the gram panchayat held a meeting and it was decided that several stray dogs had to be killed. Officials agreed and also said that if anyone wants to have dogs as pets, they have to ensure that their dog has a collar and is registered,” she said.
The scale of dog bites and police action on the issue
Meanwhile, Dr Naveen Kumar, the Medical Superintendent of Yacharam’s primary health care centre (PHC), said, “Dog bites are almost an everyday phenomenon in this mandal. We witness at least two to three cases of dog bites every day on average,” he said.
Data accessed by TNM shows that in the mandal of Yacharam alone, there have been 667 cases of dog bites from January 2025 to 2026 of which 109 are from Yacharam village.
“We have the vaccine and requisite first aid needed to treat dog bites. But we don’t have immunoglobulin therapy required for severe cases. 10% to 20% of dog bite cases need this therapy for which victims have to go to Hyderabad for treatment,” Dr Naveen added.
When asked about access to immunoglobulin therapy, Telangana Director of Public Health Ravindra Naik claimed, “Immunoglobulin therapy is available across all districts of Telangana.”
While the FIR registered by Yacharam police alleges that dogs were killed using lethal injections, Yacharam Circle Inspector A Nandeeshwar said that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report is still pending.
“There may have been more corpses. We found 33 corpses in the village’s dumpyard. We are awaiting the report and the investigation is ongoing. As things stand, we don’t know who the culprits are,” he added.
Is there a solution?
On January 19, a few days after news broke of Yacharam’s dog killings, well-known actress and animal rights activist Renu Desai held a press conference in Hyderabad advocating for dog protection.
“If you are concerned about young children being bitten by dogs, take care of that area. Locate the aggressive dog and contact NGOs like mine. We will take the dog and put it in a shelter or farmhouse. There are many people like us. We are there to help you. But if one dog makes a mistake, you cannot go about killing 100 of them. Not all dogs are bad,” she said.
Actresses like Renu and Amala Akkineni, who is also the co-founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad, have often advocated for the rights of animals when the problem of human-dog conflicts is debated.
Others have dismissed their stance as elitist, adding that it ignores the lived experiences of victims.
In this context, TNM spoke to Mudavath Preethi, the activist from the Stray Animal Foundation of India, who suggested a potential solution to the problem.
Preethi discussed the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme for dogs — a strategy that involves catching, sterilising, vaccinating and releasing the dogs back into neighbourhoods. The ABC programme mandated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) was introduced in 2001 and reworked in 2023 with a focus on population control and humane handling of dogs.
Preethi also alleged that the ABC programme has not been implemented across a majority of municipalities in Telangana. “The NGOs hired by the municipality vaccinate and sterilise a small number of the dogs they capture. But they officially claim that ABC has been conducted,” she added.
When asked about the effectiveness of the programme, Preethi said, “If there are five dogs in one area, they won’t allow a sixth one to enter easily. By sterilising the dogs, we can curb their aggression. If this practice is combined with communities feeding the dogs in their area, the chances of human-dog conflict can be drastically reduced.”
Preethi also advocated for relocating dogs and said that once the strays are caught, sterilised and vaccinated, it is important to release them in a new area.
Emphasising the need for the ABC programme, Preethi further said, “After relocation, if residents feed strays and ensure their safety, there is very little chance of attacks. This is a better solution than keeping dogs in a shelter. Aside from being a very expensive alternative, holding hundreds of dogs in one place can cause the spread of diseases like rabies. Secondly, the dogs may attack each other.
Alokparna Sengupta, managing director of Humane World for Animals, added, “In smaller districts of Telangana, if ABC is implemented at a rapid pace, the problem can be kept in check. But it won’t suffice if a municipality decides to implement the ABC programme for just 10 to 20 dogs per day, as it will be slower than the rate at which dogs will likely reproduce. The pace matters.”
Alokparna also said that the people must feed stray dogs only at set times. “Haphazard feeding patterns can cause unpredictable behaviour among strays. But if done in a planned manner, stray dogs won’t loiter as much. This also reduces the potential for human-dog conflict,” she added.
None of the Yacharam residents TNM spoke to were aware of the ABC programme.