{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T15:54:23Z","timestamp":1787241263177,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771200000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Leg J"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>In 2024, over 37 Lakh incidents of Dog Bites in India were reported, primarily due to stray dogs with the result that 54 persons died from rabies. Surely this is a public health crisis. The Municipality\u2019s fragile health infrastructure and its failure to provide a prompt and appropriate medical responses has aggravated ethical tension between animal rights and human safety issues and exposed the inadequacies in the system. The present Article analyses India\u2019s medico-legal framework for dog bite cases from various perspectives, including ethical, statutory and judicial. The present Article also looks at the legal framework, comprising the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, the National Guidelines for Rabies Prophylaxis, 2019, the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023. Relying on government data and scientific research, this article considers the management of dog bite cases and compares them and with global best practices, for example, the Netherlands\u2019 CNVR policy on the management of stray dogs in the area of public health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/00258172251376869","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T11:51:47Z","timestamp":1771242707000},"page":"28-31","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Stray dog bites and rabies in India: A silent epidemic"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"94","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7909-8519","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jasper","family":"Vikas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Law University, Delhi, Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_2","unstructured":"The Hindu Bureau. Seven-year-old girl in Kollam succumbs to rabies despite receiving anti-rabies vaccination immunoglobulin serum May 5 https:\/\/www.thehindu.Com\/news\/national\/kerala\/seven-year-old-girl-in-kollam-succumbs-to-rabies-despite-receiving-anti-rabies-vaccination-immunoglobulin-serum\/article69539785.ece (2025 accessed 10 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_2","unstructured":"Singh R. Mistook puppy bite for minor injury skipped vaccine: UP kabaddi succumbs to rabies July 2 https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.Com\/city\/meerut\/state-level-kabaddi-player-dies-of-rabies-after-puppy-bite-during-rescue\/articleshow\/122189425.cms (2025 accessed 14 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_2","unstructured":"Press Information Bureau. Stray dogs Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry & Dairying https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2117342 (2025 accessed 15 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_2","unstructured":"World Health Organisation. Rabies in India https:\/\/www.who.int\/india\/health-topics\/rabies (2025 accessed 15 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_2","unstructured":"In 2021 Under the aegis of the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) a programme namely \u2018National Action Plan for Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination by 2030\u2019 (NAPRE) was launched https:\/\/rabiesfreeindia.mohfw.gov.in\/About-NAPRE (2021 accessed 15 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_2","unstructured":"National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) https:\/\/rr-asia.woah.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/12\/india-napre-rabies.pdf (2021 accessed 15 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_2","unstructured":"WHO. WHO expert consultation on rabies: third report. WHO Technical Report Series 1012. World Health Organisation p.15 https:\/\/iris.who.int\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/272364\/9789241210218-eng.pdf (2018 accessed 16 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_2","first-page":"459","article-title":"Demographics of animal bite victims & management practices in a tertiary care institute in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India","volume":"139","author":"Gogtay NJ","year":"2014","unstructured":"Gogtay NJ, Nagpal A, Mallad A, et al. Demographics of animal bite victims & management practices in a tertiary care institute in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Indian J Med Res 2014; 139: 459\u2013462.","journal-title":"Indian J Med Res"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_2","unstructured":"Bibhuti Charan Mohanty v. State of Odisha 2023 SCC OnLine Ori 6660."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_11_2","unstructured":"Anupam Tripathi v. Union of India and Others (2016) 13 SCC 492."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_12_2","unstructured":"Union of India v. Jaladhar Jena W.P.(C) No. 16845 of 2012 (decided 30 January 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_13_2","first-page":"9","volume-title":"Principles of biomedical ethics","author":"Beauchamp TL","year":"2019","unstructured":"Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. 8th ed. London: Oxford University Press, 2019, p.9.","edition":"8"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_14_2","unstructured":"Johnson AE. Uneven access to rabies care: survey flags gaps in vaccine and immunoglobulin availability in India. The Hindu July 14 https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/uneven-access-to-rabies-care-survey-flags-gaps-in-vaccine-and-immunoglobulin-availability\/article69759867.ece (2025 accessed 17 July 2025)."}],"container-title":["Medico-Legal Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00258172251376869","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/00258172251376869","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00258172251376869","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T08:30:05Z","timestamp":1777624205000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/00258172251376869"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/00258172251376869"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/00258172251376869","relation":{},"ISSN":["0025-8172","2042-1834"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0025-8172","type":"print"},{"value":"2042-1834","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]}}}