Govt revised policy as issue harmed tourism
Dog bite cases in Goa have climbed sharply over the past three years, crossing 19,000 incidents in 2025, with the government admitting that the surge harmed the reputation of Goa’s tourism industry, prompting a revision of the policy.
Official figures tabled in the Goa Legislative Assembly showed a steady increase since 2023 amid concerns about stray dog populations.
In his reply, Minister for Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services Nilkanth Halarnkar stated that Goa recorded 11,899 dog-bite cases in 2023, a figure that spiked to 17,232 cases in 2024. The upward trend continued in 2025 -- even as the Supreme Court took serious cognisance of the issue across India -- when dog-bite cases climbed further to 19,368 cases, the highest in the past three years.
The rise has been widespread across the State, but the largest caseloads in 2025 were reported from Salcete (5,252), Bardez (3,709), Ponda (2,112) and Quepem (2,099). Tiswadi recorded 1,213 cases while several other talukas also showed year-on-year increases.
“Anti-Rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin is available at all the health centers (Primary Health Centre/Community Health Centre/Urban Health Centre/District Hospitals/Sub District Hospitals/GMC). Training of Health Care Workers and Teachers... IEC activity on Rabies is conducted in all health centers, schools and the general public. Training of healthcare workers and teachers is done under the Directorate of Health Services, and samples for suspected human rabies cases are sent to NIMHANS, Bangalore, for testing,” the minister said as he quoted proactive measures taken by the DHS.
Besides, Goa also recorded 3,088 ‘other animal-bite’ cases in 2023, rising to 4,838 cases in 2024. By 2025, that number surged to 7,000 cases, driven largely by incidents in Salcete (1,680), Quepem (1,065), Bardez (821) and Bicholim (739). Combined, the State recorded 26,368 animal-bite cases in 2025.
The reply to a question raised by MLA Sankalp Amonkar stated that the estimated stray dog population in the State is around 50,000. The government also admitted that rising dog bite cases were damaging the image of Goa’s tourism industry, prompting a revision of the stray dog management policy in 2023.
“The Policy for street and pet dog care giving in the form of guidelines” was framed in 2022 under the directives of the High Court of Bombay at Goa vide Order dated 23/09/2022. Further, taking into consideration several dog bite cases that have occurred in the State to locals and visitors, bringing a bad reputation to the Tourism Sector, the said Policy was revised in 2023 to make it more effective and the same is currently in force,” the minister said.
