District-level committees formed to handle compensation claims for dog bites, Kerala govt. tells HC

The State government has informed the Kerala High Court that district-level committees have been constituted to handle compensation claims for dog bites.

This has been done in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive to replace the Siri Jagan Committee appointed by it in 2016 to adjudicate compensation for victims of dog bites. This committee had ceased to function based on a Supreme Court directive that such matters fell under the jurisdiction of High Courts.

Committee members

On the composition of the district-level committees, the government informed the Bench of Justice C.S. Dias on Wednesday that each committee comprises the secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, the District Medical Officer, and the Joint Director concerned of the Local Self-Government department, as had been directed by the court.

The government has in addition included the district animal husbandry officer as a member, the government submitted, when the court was hearing a batch of petitions seeking its intervention to curb the recurring incidents of stray dog attacks in Kerala.

Next hearing

The Additional Advocate General (AAG) requested that the petitions may be considered only after the Supreme Court issued its order on a similar matter that was pending before it. The case was thus adjourned to September 11, after the Onam holidays.

The High Court had in July asked whether stray dog attacks could be brought within the ambit of the State Disaster Management Act, at least for the limited purpose of granting compensation to victims. The court had then impleaded the State Police Chief, directing him to submit details of FIRs registered in connection with dog bite incidents.

Fatalities

On fatalities, the government had submitted in July end that 23 people died of rabies in Kerala in the first seven months of 2025, nearly half of which were caused by stray dogs and puppies. Bites by stray dogs led to 11 of the 23 rabies deaths, while four deaths were caused by pet dogs, three by cats, and one each by fox and jackal. The cause in the remaining three deaths was unknown. In 2024, 26 people died of rabies in the State, of which 15 were caused by stray dog bites. A total of over three lakh dog bite cases were recorded in the State between August 2024 and July 2025. March saw the most number of incidents — 35,085.

In an affidavit, the Local Self-Government department (LSGD) had submitted that local bodies had been directed to ensure sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs, arrange shelter facilities for canines that cannot be returned to the streets, and to regularly report the progress of these tasks. Besides existing animal birth control (ABC) centres, portable ones will be established in areas where the stray dog menace is severe. A proposal will be submitted to the Centre to amend ABC rules, to enable local governments to overcome the threat of stray dog attacks. In addition, steps will be taken to ensure compliance with licensing of pet dogs and vaccinations, with fines being imposed for non-compliance, it said.