The Situation of Stray Dogs
in Kathmandu, Nepal

The city of Kathmandu, Nepal is home to more than 20,000 street dogs. They are commonly afflicted with injuries from collisions with cars, starvation, open sores with maggot infections, severe skin problems such as mange, and infectious ailments. Puppies especially struggle to survive in hostile environments.

Some stray dogs in Nepal carry rabies and other dangerous diseases which put people, particularly children who often play in the streets, at risk. Every year, around 200 people in Nepal die of rabies (most of whom are children), and 16,000 are treated for dog bites.

The Kathmandu city government used to poison more than 10,000 street dogs each year with strychnine, in an attempt to control the street dog population. This is a horrific form of death, throwing the dogs into violent seizures for up to nine hours before they die. The poison is scattered on the streets in lumps of meat, where it is a danger to children (who often play in the streets) and people's pets.

The dog carcasses are dumped in piles and left to decompose in the river beds. As many Kathmandu residents depend on the river for their drinking water, this creates a serious health hazard. Furthermore, this method is ineffective because the remaining dogs breed and the dog population returns to its original size within a year.

Through an agreement between the KAT Centre and the government of Kathmandu, the government no longer poisons stray dogs in the areas where KAT works.

Learn how the KAT Centre is improving the situation of Nepal's stray dogs

Read some of the incredible stories of stray dogs who have been saved by KAT!

Learn more about rabies in Kathmandu and throughout Nepal