Sivaganga MP and Congress leader Karti Chidambaram has voiced strong concern over the Karnataka Congress government’s decision to expand its stray dog feeding initiative, managed by the Animal Husbandry Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The program, which initially tied up with hotels and restaurants to provide food for street dogs, is now moving towards a vendor-based model, with a proposed budget of ₹2 crore to feed over 5,000 stray dogs daily across Bengaluru’s eight zones.
Taking to his social media platform X, Karti expressed his disapproval, stating, “Is this true? Dogs have no place in the streets. They need to be relocated to shelters, where they can be fed, vaccinated & sterilised. Feeding & keeping them in a free roaming state in the streets is a huge health & safety hazard.”
Is this true? Dogs have no place in the streets. They need to be relocated to shelters, where they can be fed, vaccinated & sterilised. Feeding & keeping them in a free roaming state in the streets is a huge health & safety hazard. https://t.co/plODiKMJDZ
— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) July 10, 2025
His comments came in response to BBMP’s reported success with the first phase of its ‘Bite-Free Locality’ campaign, launched on 17 October 2023. The initiative began by feeding around 150 stray dogs across ten city locations and soon scaled up to 28 constituencies and 135 feeding points, with over 100 hotels and eateries collaborating with BBMP to provide food.
Now, BBMP plans to shift from restaurant partnerships to third-party vendor-cooked meals, designed by veterinarians to meet nutritional needs. Special Commissioner Suralkar Vikas Kishore confirmed that an action plan has been submitted to the BBMP Commissioner and once approved, tenders will be floated within a month.
“We aim to scale the program by ensuring consistency through vendor-prepared food across all zones,” Kishore stated.
The earlier model relied on BBMP marshals collecting leftover food from hotels and handing it over to pourakarmikas (sanitation workers) for distribution. In the upcoming phase, PKs will handle food delivery directly, creating a more streamlined system. Signboards at feeding locations will continue to display food and water stations for community awareness.
Sadhana Hegde, founder of Sahavarthin Animal Welfare Trust, which supports BBMP in the project, acknowledged that while the restaurant-based model helped build community involvement, logistical issues surfaced in certain localities. The switch to centralized food preparation is expected to improve monitoring and ensure regular feeding, especially in areas where local feeders allegedly face harassment.
“BBMP’s direct involvement sets a strong precedent. The goal is to make feeding efforts more reliable and to support volunteers working in challenging environments,” Hegde noted.
Despite initial success, the expansion has triggered debates, particularly around safety concerns and the increasing number of stray dogs in urban areas. Karti Chidambaram’s remarks have reignited the conversation about whether feeding free-roaming dogs on the streets is a sustainable solution or whether shelter-based care and sterilization should take priority.
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