Srinagar, May 22 -- When children walk to school clutching sticks instead of lunchboxes, when elderly citizens lie awake at night to the sound of relentless howling, then we must ask: how long before this issue is treated as an emergency?Recent numbers from SMHS Hospital are sobering: In just one year-from April 2023 to March 2024-there were 8,652 dog bite cases. Over 30,000 such cases have been reported in the last six years. These are not faceless statistics. These are children, elders, and neighbours.

The problem is not merely the growing population of stray dogs. It's the systemic failure that allows it to spiral. Poor waste management, with open garbage dumps across the city, provides a steady food source for dogs and accelerates br...