9 dog bites a month: The ‘despair’ of a Telangana village facing mass culling charges

“Both the cases were beyond us. We administered a tetanus injection and the anti-rabies vaccine, and told them to go to a bigger centre for treatment,” Deepthi says.

That means a bigger government hospital or a private hospital – mostly beyond their means in terms of cost or distance – villagers at Yacharam tell The Indian Express.

A 55-year-old whose niece was bitten by dogs, who doesn’t want to identify himself for fear of facing action, says: “We are tired of dog bites. We need the government to step up and do something.”

Another villager points to the stray dogs still in a good number in Yacharam, and adds: “The menace is far from over. We really don’t know what to do with the dogs and the government too seems to be clueless.”

According to government hospital data, between January 2025 and 2026, Yacharam saw 109 cases of dog bites. The number of dog bite cases from 24 villages in and around Yacharam during the same period was 667.

In 2024, the last year for which compiled data for the state is available, Telangana saw 1.22 lakh dog bites. The data for 2025 is yet to be compiled, senior officials in the Health Department told The Indian Express, adding that they have the rabies vaccine in enough supply.

“The case load (of dog bites) is difficult for us to handle,” A Swamy, senior nursing staff at the Yacharam PHC, says.

The dog-bite menace is one reason that, across villages in Telangana, ridding villages of dogs was one of the promises made by sarpanchs during the panchayat elections of December 2025.

In the wake of the dog killings, 17 people have been booked by police, including five village sarpanches and three village secretaries, under Sections dealing with Prevention of Cruelty to Animals among other charges. They include Yacharam sarpanch Anitha and her husband Sharanam. No arrests have been made in the cases.

As per a member of the NGO SAFI, M Preethi, “The sarpanchs got people – mostly pest controllers – to catch and kill the dogs.”

While SAFI has alleged that 900 dogs have been killed across the four districts, police put the number at around 370.

In the case of Yacharam, Circle Inspector Nandeshwar Reddy says: “We have dug up 30 carcasses.”

Anitha, who took over as sarpanch in December 2025, with the Yacharam post reserved for women, tells The Indian Express she has “no idea about the dog killings”. “I was unwell and was away on the day the dogs were allegedly killed.”

Villagers say whoever did it, they are “full of gratitude” to the couple, whose posters are all over Yacharam.

The Indian Express’s attempts to reach out to the other sarpanchs who have been booked were unsuccessful.

SAFI says the Yacharam killings only came to light after “a pet parent complained about his missing dog”. “That dog too was killed along with the strays,” an animal welfare officer at the US-based NGO, which has a chapter in Hyderabad, says.

With SAFI fighting various cases related to animal cruelty in courts, one of its members, Adulapuram Goutham, says: “In our experience, taking legal course is the best way to prevent cruelty towards animals.”

The villagers are aware of the Supreme Court hearing petitions pertaining to the street dog menace. At a recent hearing, the Court said that “heavy compensation from states can be exacted for dog-bite incidents” and that “under no condition shall the feeding of stray dogs on the streets be permitted”.

But, the villagers point out, that is not a solution for them as the dogs in Yacharam do not need people to feed them. “There are several poultry farms and shops surrounding the village. The dogs get enough food by foraging,” Md Nayeem says.

Inspector Reddy says they have reached out to poultry farmers now, told them to ensure proper disposal of waste.

Telangana Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anasuya says sterilization and vaccination are the only possible ways to get the dog population under control. Calling the dog killings “illegal” and “inhumane”, he warns that those responsible will face strict action.

SAFI says another way is adoption of stray dogs by animal lovers. “There should be community dogs which people care for, and have them sterilised and vaccinated,” says Preethi M.

For Yacharam, meanwhile, dogs are not the only problem. “There are monkeys and stray cats too… No one is talking about them,” a villager says.

Data at the village PHC shows that between January 2025 and January 2026, there were 68 cases of monkey bites and 44 cases of cat attacks in Yacharam village. Anti-rabies vaccination had to be administered in all these cases, nurses at the PHC said.

“It’s almost as if the government does not care for those who live among these animals,” a villager says.