With stray dog numbers and bite incidents rising across the district, District Magistrate Venkat Raja has directed officials to take urgent and coordinated measures to curb the stray dog menace, in line with Supreme Court guidelines. Chairing a meeting at the District Magistrate’s Office, he instructed all local bodies – including municipalities, town panchayats, and gram panchayats to earmark at least one acre of land within their limits for the relocation of stray dogs and to construct protective boundary walls.
He further directed departments such as Urban Development, Panchayat Raj, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Education, Transport, Health and Family Welfare, and Youth Empowerment to work jointly to address the issue. Measures must extend to all public spaces, including government and private educational institutions, hospitals, and bus stands, he said.
The Deputy Commissioner instructed officials to appoint nodal officers, increase field inspections, and ensure the availability of anti-rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin in both government and private hospitals. Quick medical response and first-aid treatment must be ensured for all dog-bite cases, he added.
Municipal Commissioner H.R. Ramesh informed the meeting that 1.5 acres of municipal land near Staurt Hill on the outskirts of Madikeri has already been reserved for the relocation of stray dogs. The Deputy Commissioner also directed similar land allocation at Somwarpet, Kushalnagar, Ponnampet, and Gonikoppa.
Emphasising public health, he called for mass awareness about rabies prevention and instructed the Animal Husbandry Department to closely monitor stray dog control measures, with all directives to be implemented by December.  District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr. Satish Kumar reported that 4,872 dog-bite cases were recorded in 2024, and 4,217 cases between January and October 2025.
Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Dr. Lingaraju Doddamani assured that necessary actions would be taken in coordination with local organisations.
The meeting was attended by ADC R. Aishwarya, Deputy Superintendent of Police Barike Dinesh Kumar, Deputy Divisional Officer Nitin Chakki, Urban Development Planning Branch Project Director B. Basappa, Land Records Deputy Director Niranjana, Pre-University Education Deputy Director Chidananda Kumar, School Education Officer Soumya Ponnappa, Municipal officials Krishnaprasad, Girish, Nachappa, Gopi, District Surveyor Dr. Srinivas and others.
