Do We Really Love Dogs... Or Just Our Own? The Forgotten Reality of Nepal's Street Dogs

Every morning in Nepal, countless street dogs wake up with no home, no food, and no one to protect them. In the same cities, other dogs wake up to warm beds, full bowls, vet visits, and photos on someone’s Instagram. But the real question is: do we love all dogs, or only the ones we call our own?

The Scale of the Problem

Nepal's streets are never empty of dogs. They sleep outside shops, follow pedestrians through crowded markets, and gather in squares from Kathmandu to remote hill towns. But behind that familiar sight lies a number that is hard to ignore. Nepal's stray dog population is estimated to exceed twenty lakh (two million). In Kathmandu alone, animal welfare groups estimate more than 20,000 stray dogs roam the streets.

The risks are real. Dog bites, road accidents, and rabies infections continue to raise concerns across the country. According to the World Health Organisation, dogs account for around 99 percent of rabies transmission to humans in countries where the disease remains common. In Nepal, government and WHO figures show that around 32 people die from rabies every year.

For many residents, the danger is most felt in the quiet hours. "There used to be risks while walking on the streets early in the morning and at night," said Rabi Subedi, a local resident of Baglung.

Yet, Nepal has long struggled to balance this public health reality against animal welfare. The question is not just how many dogs there are, it is what we choose to do about them.

Prakash Baral, "Can a 'dog hostel' solve Nepal's stray dog problem? Baglung is trying," Kathmandu Post, May 28, 2026.

What Happens to Them

The consequences of Nepal's unmanaged stray dog population fall on both humans and animals and the numbers are difficult to ignore. More than 60,000 people receive rabies vaccinations at state run health facilities annually, while thousands more seek treatment at private centres. Dog bite cases, according to the Health Ministry's own data, have been rising every year.

But even seeking treatment is no longer guaranteed. State run health facilities across Nepal have been experiencing an acute shortage of rabies vaccines for months. More than 500 dog bite victims visit Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital every single day, a hospital that has now stopped administering second doses in its emergency department due to the shortage. Dog bite victims in the districts are left with two options: travel to Kathmandu, or pay out of pocket at private pharmacies.

The cost of that gap can be fatal. In June 2026, a 48-year-old man from Chandragiri Municipality died of rabies after being bitten by a puppy weeks earlier. His family could not find the vaccine at nearby health facilities. By the time he reached Sukraraj Hospital, symptoms had already appeared. Rabies is preventable if the vaccine is administered on time  but once symptoms appear, doctors say, it is almost always fatal.

What makes this harder to accept is that health workers trying to raise the alarm are being silenced. One health worker told the Kathmandu Post that officials who spoke publicly about the shortage were later interrogated by the Ministry of Health and warned against speaking to the media. "The reality is that we don't have doses to administer to dog bite victims, and we are strictly restricted from speaking about the vaccine shortage," another health worker said, asking not to be named for fear of government action.

Meanwhile, the dogs themselves face their own violence. Until recently, reports of street dogs being run over, struck with sharp weapons, doused with hot water, or beaten to death were routinely dismissed by police as "just a dog case." But according to animal rights activist Bishwa Ram Karki, things have slowly begun to change. Police have initiated action in 12 separate cases of violence against dogs in the Kathmandu Valley in just one month with complaints formally registered, post-mortems conducted, suspects held in custody, and cases taken to court.

Before 2017, there was no specific law on the matter. Since the Muluki Criminal Code came into force, cruelty to animals is treated as a criminal offence; those found guilty face up to three months in prison, a fine of Rs. 5,000, or both. "Before, perpetrators never came within reach of the law," Karki said. "Now they are being arrested, held in custody, and facing action. The message has gone out that harming animals brings consequences."

 The Law on Paper

Nepal's National Penal Code 2017 does protect animals  but most people never know it exists.

Section 116 makes it a crime to recklessly keep or control an animal that poses danger to others  up to one year in prison or a fine of Rs. 10,000.

Section 117 prohibits abandoning any animal on a public road or someone else's property with the same penalty of up to one year in prison or Rs. 10,000 fine. In theory, dumping a pet dog on the street is already illegal.

Section 289 gives the strongest protection but only to cows and oxen. Killing one carries up to three years in prison.

Section 290 is the section that matters most for street dogs. Beating, overworking, starving, or cruelly treating any animal is a criminal offence up to three months in prison, a fine of Rs. 5,000, or both.

Section 291 prohibits killing any animal in a public place, with limited religious exceptions  up to one month in prison or Rs 5,000 fine.

Section 292 is the problem. Complaints must be filed within three months of the offence. Miss that window and the case dies regardless of how serious the cruelty was.

The law exists. Enforcement is another story entirely.

Who Is Actually Doing the Work

While the government debates and the law sits unenforced, some municipalities are quietly trying something different.

Baglung Municipality has built what it calls a "dog hostel" a dedicated shelter to house stray dogs taken off the streets. The facility, built in ward 3 of Baglung Municipality, was constructed under an innovation program in partnership with the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of Gandaki Province. The total cost was Rs. 10 crore,  Rs. 3 crore 50 lakh  from the municipality and Rs. 6 crore 50 lakh  from the provincial government.

The plan is simple but structured. In the first phase, the hostel will house 50 dogs, later expanding to 100. Dogs receive regular vaccinations and medical care inside the facility. The municipality itself manages their food. Healthy dogs may eventually be put up for adoption.

Outside the hostel, Baglung has simultaneously launched a rabies vaccination drive for both pet and community dogs, with medicines provided free of charge. Pet owners must now register their dogs for Rs. 200 and receive free vaccination in return. To keep track, vaccinated dogs are identified with colored collars: red for pets, and blue for community dogs.

It is a thoughtful system. But Baglung's hostel holds 100 dogs at full capacity. Nepal has over Rs. 20 lakh.

"Baglung's experiment is still small in scale," the Kathmandu Post noted, "but officials hope it could become a model for other municipalities facing similar problems." Whether other municipalities are willing to spend Rs. 10 crore  to find out remains the real question.

The Selective Love Problem

Nepal is not alone in this struggle but the contrast with other countries is hard to ignore.

Globally, there are an estimated Rs 14 crore 30 lakh  dogs living on the street. How a country treats them says a great deal about what it actually values, not just what it claims to.

The countries doing it right share one thing in common: they rejected killing as a solution. Bhutan, Nepal's neighbor, invested 14 years in a capture-neuter-vaccinate-return programme and achieved 100 percent sterilization and vaccination for its free-roaming dogs. The Netherlands became the first country in the world to reach near-zero stray dogs, not through culling, but through mandatory registration, strong abandonment laws, and widespread sterilization. Thailand, culturally similar to Nepal in its Buddhist values, has largely rejected mass killing and instead invested in vaccination and sterilization, eliminating dog-transmitted rabies in many regions.

The countries doing it worst: Morocco, Pakistan, Egypt all share a common response; periodic mass culling that animal welfare experts consistently describe as both cruel and ineffective in the long term.

What Actually Needs to Change

The Animal Welfare Act has been in drafting for over a decade. It has not yet been passed.

Current penalties are outdated. "In 2055 BS, punishments were set according to that time. Today, 28 years later, the punishment for the same crimes is actually worth less in real value," said Umesh Dahal, Director General of the Department of Livestock Services.

Government budgets exist for stray animal care. But animal rescuer Gopal says that he has never seen that money reaching the animals. "Hundreds of thousands in budgets are allocated for street cows and calves. But where is that money? It never reached these animals."

Awareness is the third gap. "In Nepal, where there is no awareness of animal welfare acts, where there is no awareness in the education system, how do we expect people to behave differently?" said Sneha Shrestha, founder of Sneha's Care.

For ordinary people, Shrestha's task is simple: "If you have a dog at home, treat it like a family member. If you can't, please don't bring one. And if you can't love them, please don't hurt them.

A dog beaten to death in Samakhusi had no name. A man who hanged a dog in Khotang received one week in prison. A dog named Ranger survived an attack but "the body healed," Shrestha said, "and something inside him did not."

Two million dogs. Still on the street. Still waiting.

Which dogs does Nepal love?

Source:

Ankita Khanal, "Animal Welfare in Nepal: Gaps between law, culture and enforcement," Nepal News, April 20, 2026.

 Arjun Poudel, "Weeks after dog bite, man dies of rabies," Kathmandu Post, June 21, 2026.

 Sumitra Luitel, "12 dog cruelty cases in a month as Nepal Police finally act," OnlineKhabar, May 25, 2026.

National Penal Code Act 2017, Sections 116, 117, 227, 289, 290, 291, 292

Prakash Baral, "Can a 'dog hostel' solve Nepal's stray dog problem? Baglung is trying," Kathmandu Post, May 28, 2026

Humane World for Animals, "Where are the best and worst countries to be a street dog this World Stray Animal Day?" March 25, 2026.