The data is clear, blunt, and inconvenient for the outrage industry. The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, reports a 75% decline in rabies deaths in India over 20 years, alongside a two-thirds reduction in dog bite incidence. This is not anecdotal. This is rigorous epidemiological fact.
This dramatic success is a testament to systemic public health interventions, not magic or luck:
- Extensive anti-rabies vaccination programs for dogs across urban and rural areas.
- Improved access to Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for humans, making treatment available at primary health centers.
- Targeted awareness campaigns educating communities on bite prevention and first aid.
- Better integration of veterinary and human public health systems.
These are hard-won gains, the result of consistent, often unheralded, work by countless professionals. This is the result of selfless volunteering services of millions of dog feeders. It's a victory of science and sustained effort over disease.
So, when the Supreme Court deliberates on policies concerning community animals, the foundation *must* be this scientific evidence. To base policy on amplified media narratives or emotional appeals, ignoring a proven track record of decline, is a dereliction of evidence-based governance. It undermines the very systems that achieved this success.
We have a working model. The solution is to support it, not dismantle it based on manufactured fear. 🔬