The carcasses of dozens of stray dogs were found in pits dug outside a village in the southern Indian state of Telangana amid concerns over mass killings of canines in the past few months.
The carcasses of at least 100 dogs were recovered on Sunday evening in Abbapur village in Jagtial district of Telangana. Police said they have confirmed the deaths of at least 500 stray dogs in the state so far, most of them caused by poisoning or lethal injections.
According to reports, the dogs were poisoned after the village administration promised to tackle the stray problem once they secured victory in a local body elections, which were held in Telangana in December 2025.
Animal rights activists and charities have said the actual number of dogs that have been killed is much higher. They claim at least 1,000 dogs have been culled so far since late December 2025.
Telangana police lodged a formal complaint against village council heads on a complaint filed by Preethi Mudavath of Stray Animal Foundation of India (SAFI), the Indian Express newspaper reported.
In August, the Supreme Court ruled that every stray in the capital region – close to one million dogs, according to estimates – should be removed from the streets within eight weeks. The directive followed rising reports of dog bites and rabies cases nationwide, and a media storm over the death of a child allegedly from rabies.
Many animal lovers took to the streets to protest against the order. Animal rights activists signed online petitions asking the court to revoke its decision. After days of protests, the court was forced to backtrack, asking for the animals to be immunised and vaccinated before they were released.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in India prohibits the killing or mutilation of any animal, including stray dogs and any other kind of cruelty towards animals. Critics of the law point to it not being tough enough to prevent a large number of incidents of animal cruelty that occur in the country.
“The dog killings are continuing despite our petitions to the authorities including chief minister A Revanth Reddy,” Ms Mudavath said.
She said the carcasses were sent for postmortem after the NGO intervened. She wrote in the complaint that the carcasses were first discovered inside a pit dug outside the border of the village.
Bodies of hundreds of dogs have been found also in villages in Hanamkonda, Kamareddy, and Jagtial districts. Some dogs were also found missing in the Yacharam village near Hyderabad.
Telangana state minister, Danasari Anasuya Seethakka, previously told The Hindu that the killings were “illegal” and “inhumane”, warning that those responsible would face strict action.
She said the slaying of the stray dogs under the pretext of population control could not be justified under any circumstances.
She added that the government had directed all village councils to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
The mass killing of dogs has triggered outrage across the country amid a wider debate over the future of stray animals in India.
The country’s top court is currently hearing petitions on how to address the presence of community dogs on city streets, including in the capital, Delhi.
Animal lovers on social media are calling it a "massacre" or even "genocide" of strays, tagging officials and demanding intervention.
Telangana state has recorded nearly 122,000 incidents of dog bites in 2024, according to government data. But no rabies-related deaths have been reported in the same year.
In April, the federal government said nearly 430,000 cases of dog bites were reported nationwide in January, against 3.7 million cases in all of 2024. India has 52.5 million stray dogs, a survey of homeless pets by Mars Petcare has shown, with eight million canines in shelters.
Media reports suggest Delhi alone has one million stray dogs.
