After SC fiat, civic officials to offer street dogs chicken rice twice a day
Managing these street dogs will cost the civic body Rs 8 crore annually
Following a recent Supreme Court directive, Bengaluru civic authorities have decided to relocate street dogs from sensitive public spaces—including bus stands, railway stations, hospitals, schools, colleges, hostels, universities, sports complexes, training centres and government office premises—and house them in designated shelters. As part of the new protocol, the dogs will now be fed chicken rice twice a day, instead of once.
Earlier, shelters provided chicken rice only once daily. However, after receiving complaints and feedback from the public, the authorities have revised the feeding schedule to two meals a day.
Under the updated guidelines, each dog will receive two servings of chicken rice daily. The earlier cost per meal was Rs 22.40, but due to rising prices of raw ingredients, the cost has now been revised to Rs 25 per meal. The meal includes 150g of rice, 100g of chicken, 100g of vegetables, 10g of oil, 5g of salt and 2.5g of turmeric.
The pre-cooking weight of the mixture is 367.5g, which increases to around 600g after cooking.
A senior GBA official from the Animal Husbandry Department said, “Compared to earlier, the rice quantity has been increased by 50g and chicken reduced by 50g. This has raised the cost per meal by Rs 2.6. Including staff, maintenance and operational expenses, the total daily cost of food and care per dog will be around Rs 102.”
Bengaluru Central City Commissioner Rajendra Cholan said each dog housed in a shelter will cost the civic body Rs 3,035 per month, covering expenses such as food, staff salaries, medicines, cleaning supplies and administrative costs.
Additionally, capturing, transporting and vaccinating each dog incurs a one-time cost of Rs 300. Government data indicates that there are 2,206 street dogs across government premises in Bengaluru. These include 1,623 in the North Zone, 131 in the South Zone, 222 in the Central Zone, 37 in the West Zone and 193 in the East Zone. The estimated expenditure for managing these dogs is Rs 67 lakh per month, amounting to roughly Rs 8 crore annually.
