Data report · Updated October 2026
Deaths from dog attacks in India: what the official counts show, and what nobody counts
India has no official count of people killed by dog maulings; NCRB groups them with every other animal, at 1,630 deaths in 2024. For rabies, which causes most dog-related deaths, national surveillance recorded 54 suspected deaths in 2024. An ICMR study estimates the real rabies toll at about 5,726 deaths a year, roughly 106 times the official figure.
Key findings
- No central agency publishes a count of deaths from dog maulings; NCRB's 'killed by animals' line covers all animals and recorded 1,630 deaths in 2024.
- National surveillance (IDSP) recorded 21 suspected rabies deaths in 2022, 50 in 2023 and 54 in 2024, per a Lok Sabha reply of April 2025.
- A separate Lok Sabha reply in July 2024 said 286 people died due to dog bites in 2023, far above the 50 in the later table.
- An ICMR study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimates 5,726 rabies deaths a year in India, about 15.7 a day and 106 times the 2024 official count.
- Earlier estimates ranged from 12,700 (Million Deaths Study, 2012) to 20,847 (a 2015 modelling study), so the newer estimate is lower but still far above official counts.
- State data often exceeds the national table: Karnataka's rabies action plan lists 42 deaths in 2024 and Kerala's health directorate 26, against 5 and 3 in the national IDSP table.
- Kerala's rabies deaths rose from 5 in 2016 to 33 in 2025, and 122 people died in 2021 to 2025.
- Tamil Nadu recorded 34 deaths linked to dog bites in 2025 and 17 more in January to April 2026, as cited by the Supreme Court in May 2026.
- Men made up 1,269 of the 1,630 people NCRB recorded as killed by animals in 2024, or 77.9%.
- Karnataka recorded 53 rabies deaths and 4,99,344 dog bites in 2025, its February 2026 rabies action plan shows, up from 18 deaths in 2023.
How many people die from dog attacks in India?
Nobody knows the full number, because India does not count it. Deaths from rabies after a dog bite are tracked through disease surveillance. Deaths from mauling, where dogs kill a person through injuries, are not counted separately by any national agency.
The figures that do exist measure different things. The official rabies count was 54 suspected deaths in 2024. The ICMR estimate is 5,726 rabies deaths a year. NCRB recorded 1,630 deaths from attacks by all animals in 2024, without a split for dogs.
| Figure | Year | Source | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | 2024 | IDSP/IHIP, Lok Sabha USQ 4870 | Suspected human rabies deaths reported by states |
| 50 | 2023 | IDSP/IHIP, Lok Sabha USQ 4870 | Suspected human rabies deaths reported by states |
| 286 | 2023 | Lok Sabha reply, 30 July 2024 (IDSP) | Persons who died due to dog bite |
| 21 | 2022 | IDSP/IHIP, Lok Sabha USQ 4870 | Suspected human rabies deaths reported by states |
| 5,726 | Per year, 2022 to 2023 survey | ICMR study, Lancet Infectious Diseases 2025 | Estimated rabies deaths from a national survey and model |
| 1,630 | 2024 | NCRB, ADSI 2024 | People killed by animals of all kinds |
| 1,742 | 2023 | NCRB, ADSI 2024 | People killed by animals of all kinds |
| 6,644 | 2012 to 2020 | NRCP, quoted in NAPRE | Clinically suspected human rabies cases and deaths reported by states |
How many rabies deaths does the government report?
Very few, compared with any estimate. In a Lok Sabha reply of 1 April 2025, the government gave 21 suspected rabies deaths for 2022, 50 for 2023 and 54 for 2024, from the IDSP portal. January 2025 had one. A later reply on 22 July 2025 repeated 54 suspected deaths for 2024, alongside 37,17,336 dog bites.
Government replies do not always agree with each other. A written reply to the Lok Sabha on 30 July 2024 said 286 persons died due to dog bite in 2023, citing IDSP. The April 2025 table gives 50 suspected rabies deaths for the same year. The two replies also give slightly different bite totals for 2023: 30,43,339 and 30,52,521.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4870, 1 April 2025, Annexure II. Data as on 27 February 2025. A July 2024 reply gave 286 deaths due to dog bite for 2023.
Show the numbers
| Label | deaths |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 21 |
| 2023 | 50 |
| 2024 | 54 |
| Jan 2025 | 1 |
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| State | Suspected rabies deaths, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Maharashtra | 14 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 6 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 6 |
| Karnataka | 5 |
| Meghalaya | 4 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 3 |
| Kerala | 3 |
| Bihar | 2 |
| Manipur | 2 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1 |
| Assam | 1 |
| Gujarat | 1 |
| Jharkhand | 1 |
| Tripura | 1 |
| West Bengal | 1 |
| All other states and UTs | 0 |
| India | 54 |
Maharashtra led the 2024 table with 14 deaths. Delhi, Goa, Haryana and Telangana reported none. As the next section shows, some state health departments report many more deaths than this table holds.
No national total for 2025 has been tabled. On 24 July 2026 the Health Minister told the Lok Sabha that state-wise data on human rabies deaths is not maintained centrally, PTI reported.
How many people really die of rabies in India?
The best current estimate is about 5,726 a year. ICMR researchers surveyed 78,807 households in 60 districts of 15 states between March 2022 and August 2023. They combined that with lab data in a model, and the uncertainty range runs from 3,967 to 7,350 deaths.
That works out to about 15.7 deaths a day. India's national rabies plan says about 96% of rabies deaths and illness in India are linked to dog bites. So most of these deaths follow a dog bite, often one that was never treated or not treated fully.
1998 to 2015: estimates listed in NAPRE, Table 1. 2022-23: Thangaraj et al, Lancet Infectious Diseases 2025. Studies use different methods, so the trend is indicative.
Show the numbers
| Label | deaths a year |
|---|---|
| 1998 (WHO survey) | 30,000 |
| 2004 (APCRI survey) | 20,565 |
| 2005 (model) | 19,713 |
| 2012 (Million Deaths Study) | 12,700 |
| 2015 (global model) | 20,847 |
| 2022-23 (ICMR) | 5,726 |
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| Year of estimate | Estimated deaths a year | Study type |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 30,000 | WHO world survey of rabies |
| 2004 | 20,565 | Hospital and community survey |
| 2005 | 19,713 | Dog bite probability model |
| 2012 | 12,700 | Million Deaths Study, verbal autopsy (furious rabies) |
| 2015 | 20,847 | Global modelling study |
| 2022 to 2023 | 5,726 (3,967 to 7,350) | ICMR national survey and decision-tree model |
The ICMR team says deaths have fallen a lot over two decades. Even so, its central estimate is about 106 times the 54 deaths in the 2024 official count. Our dog bite and rabies statistics report covers the bite counts behind these deaths.
Why do state figures show more deaths than the national count?
States often record more deaths than reach the national table. Kerala's Directorate of Health Services counted 26 rabies deaths in 2024, while the national IDSP table shows 3. Karnataka's own rabies action plan of February 2026 lists 42 rabies deaths in 2024 on the IHIP portal, against 5 in the national table.
Karnataka's plan also lists 18 deaths in 2023 and 53 in 2025, with 4,99,344 dog bites in 2025. It notes that its three epidemic disease hospitals take rabies patients referred from neighbouring states, which adds to Karnataka's count. Goa shows the same gap: The Goan reported a rabies death there in September 2023, while the national table shows none for Goa that year.
We found no official explanation for the gap. Possible reasons include late uploads, deaths outside the reporting system, and differences between suspected and confirmed cases. The pattern means the official national count should be read as a minimum.
State figures: Karnataka State Action Plan for Rabies Elimination, February 2026 (IHIP data); Kerala DHS via Onmanorama (10 Sep 2025). National: Lok Sabha USQ 4870, data as on 27 Feb 2025.
Show the numbers
| Label | deaths |
|---|---|
| Karnataka 2023, state data | 18 |
| Karnataka 2023, national table | 4 |
| Karnataka, state data | 42 |
| Karnataka, national table | 5 |
| Kerala, state data | 26 |
| Kerala, national table | 3 |
Embed this chart
| State | Period | Deaths | Dog bites | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerala | 2025 | 33 rabies deaths | 3.69 lakh (stray dogs) | Local government data via Kerala Kaumudi, 3 Feb 2026 |
| Kerala | 2024 | 26 rabies deaths | Not given | DHS via Onmanorama, 10 Sep 2025 |
| Karnataka | 2025 | 53 rabies deaths | 4,99,344 | Karnataka State Action Plan for Rabies Elimination, Feb 2026 (IHIP) |
| Karnataka | 2024 | 42 rabies deaths | 3.6 lakh | Karnataka SAPRE, Feb 2026 (deaths); state IDSP via PTI, 20 Jul 2025 (bites) |
| Karnataka | Jan to Jun 2025 | 19 rabies deaths | 2,31,091 | State IDSP via PTI, 20 Jul 2025 |
| Karnataka | Jan to Apr 2026 | At least 25 rabies deaths | Over 2 lakh | Supreme Court judgment, 19 May 2026, citing News9 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2025 | 34 deaths linked to dog bites | 6.25 lakh | Supreme Court judgment, 19 May 2026, citing The Hindu |
| Tamil Nadu | Jan to Apr 2026 | 17 deaths linked to dog bites | About 2.63 lakh | Supreme Court judgment, 19 May 2026, citing The Hindu |
These state numbers come through news reports of official data or court records, so we label each one. Tamil Nadu's figures do not say how many deaths were from rabies and how many from injuries.
How many people are mauled to death by dogs?
There is no official figure. The closest national data is NCRB's Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report. It records people 'killed by animals', which fell from 1,742 in 2023 to 1,630 in 2024, but it includes every kind of animal.
That line covers every kind of animal, and NCRB does not split it by species. Bites by snakes and other venomous creatures are counted separately, under poisoning. So no one can say from official data how many of the 1,630 were killed by dogs.
NCRB, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024, Table 1.0 and Table 1.7. Covers all animals; dogs are not shown separately.
Show the numbers
| Label | deaths |
|---|---|
| 2023, all | 1,742 |
| 2024, all | 1,630 |
| 2024, men | 1,269 |
| 2024, women | 361 |
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| Date | Place | Victim | What followed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 February 2023 | Amberpet, Hyderabad | Boy, 4, killed by a pack of stray dogs | Telangana High Court took up a suo motu PIL | Onmanorama, 21 Feb 2023; The News Minute, 23 Feb 2023 |
| 11 June 2023 | Kannur, Kerala | Nihal, 11, autistic, mauled by street dogs | Cited in the Kerala child rights commission's plea in the Supreme Court | LiveLaw, 28 Jun 2023 |
These cases are listed to show what kind of deaths go uncounted. They are not a tally. Kerala's child rights commission told the Supreme Court in 2023 that the state logged 11,776 stray dog attacks in 2022, but it gave no count of deaths.
How many people die from stray dogs in Kerala?
Kerala publishes more than most states, and its numbers are rising. Rabies deaths rose from 5 in 2016 to 33 in 2025, from Directorate of Health Services and local government data reported in the press. That makes 122 deaths in 2021 to 2025, against 35 in 2016 to 2020.
The rise came while Kerala gave free treatment to more than 9 lakh people a year, a 2026 Lancet Regional Health study says. It found Kerala's dog vaccination too low to stop the virus. Our report on whether stray dogs carry rabies explains the gap.
2016 to 2024: Kerala Directorate of Health Services via Onmanorama, 10 Sep 2025. 2025: local government department data via Kerala Kaumudi, 3 Feb 2026.
Show the numbers
| Label | deaths |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 27 |
| 2023 | 25 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 33 |
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Figures cited by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in the Supreme Court, as reported by LiveLaw, 28 June 2023. 6,276 more were reported up to 19 June 2023.
Show the numbers
| Label | attacks |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 5,794 |
| 2020 | 3,951 |
| 2021 | 7,927 |
| 2022 | 11,776 |
Embed this chart
These attack counts are far below Kerala's dog bite totals, which ran to 3.69 lakh in 2025. The commission did not say how it defined an attack, so the two series do not compare. See our Kerala stray dogs statistics for more.
What have the courts done about deaths from stray dogs?
The Supreme Court opened a suo motu case in July 2025 after a news report on a six-year-old Delhi girl who died of rabies after a stray dog bite. The case is titled 'City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price'. It has since produced orders in August 2025, on 7 November 2025 and a judgment on 19 May 2026.
The November 2025 order told all hospitals to keep anti-rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin in stock. The May 2026 judgment allows euthanasia of rabid, incurably ill or demonstrably dangerous dogs after veterinary assessment. It also ordered at least one functional ABC centre in every district.
- July 2025: Supreme Court takes suo motu note of the Delhi child's rabies death.
- 11 and 22 August 2025: earlier directions, later supplemented and modified by the November order.
- 7 November 2025: institutions to be fenced and secured; all hospitals to stock ARV and immunoglobulin.
- 19 May 2026: judgment on compliance; euthanasia allowed for rabid or dangerous dogs after veterinary assessment.
- 22 February 2023: Telangana High Court takes up a suo motu PIL after the Amberpet death.
Compensation for victims and families is set state by state, often by court-appointed committees. Our dog bite compensation report lists the rates. The court's full timeline is in our Supreme Court stray dog orders tracker.
How can deaths after a dog bite be prevented?
Rabies deaths are preventable with prompt treatment. WHO's 2018 position paper says more than 99% of patients survive with thorough wound washing, immediate vaccination and a completed course. The ICMR survey found 20.5% of dog bite victims got no vaccine, and 49.1% of those who started did not finish.
Mauling deaths need different fixes: dog population control, secured school and hospital premises, and fast emergency care. Both depend on better data. A national count of dog-caused deaths, split by rabies and injury, would show where the risk is greatest.
Frequently asked questions
How many people die from dog attacks in India every year?
There is no official total. National surveillance recorded 54 suspected rabies deaths in 2024, while an ICMR study estimates about 5,726 rabies deaths a year. No agency counts deaths from dog maulings separately.
How many people died of rabies in India in 2024?
The official IDSP count was 54 suspected human rabies deaths in 2024, with Maharashtra highest at 14. State data show more: Karnataka reported 42 and Kerala 26 for 2024. The ICMR estimate for a typical year is 5,726.
How many people are killed by stray dogs in India?
No official figure separates deaths caused by stray dogs. NCRB recorded 1,630 people killed by all animals in 2024, without a split for dogs. In the ICMR survey, 61% of documented dog bites were from strays.
Is there an official count of dog mauling deaths in India?
No. NCRB's accidental deaths report has one line for people killed by animals of every kind. Disease surveillance counts rabies deaths but not deaths from bite injuries.
Which state has the most rabies deaths?
In the national IDSP table for 2024, Maharashtra had the most with 14 deaths. State data tell a different story: Karnataka reported 42 deaths and Kerala 26 in 2024. In 2025 Karnataka listed 53 and Kerala 33.
Why are official rabies death figures so low?
Surveillance counts only deaths that states report as suspected rabies. A Health Ministry expert meeting in 2019 noted under-reporting of rabies deaths, and state figures do not always reach the national table. The ICMR estimate is about 106 times the 2024 official count.
Has the dog attack death rate gone up?
Rabies deaths in Kerala rose from 5 in 2016 to 33 in 2025. Nationally, estimated rabies deaths have fallen over two decades, from 20,565 in a 2004 survey to 5,726 in the ICMR study. There is no national trend for mauling deaths because none are counted.
What did the Supreme Court say about deaths from stray dogs?
The court opened a suo motu case in July 2025 after a Delhi child died of rabies. Its May 2026 judgment allows euthanasia of rabid or demonstrably dangerous dogs after veterinary assessment. It also ordered at least one functional ABC centre in every district.
Methodology and limitations
We kept rabies deaths and mauling deaths apart, because they are recorded by different systems or not at all. Official rabies figures come from IDSP tables tabled in the Lok Sabha. Animal-attack deaths come from NCRB's Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024, which we downloaded and read table by table.
Estimates come from peer-reviewed studies and from the burden table in India's National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination. State figures come from Karnataka's published rabies action plan, from state health departments as reported by established news outlets, or from the Supreme Court's May 2026 judgment. We label each one.
We did not build a tally of mauling deaths from news reports. The two mauling cases we list are examples that reached the courts, not a count. Ratios and per-day figures are our calculation.
Sources
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4870, DAHD, 1 April 2025, IDSP suspected rabies deaths by state, 2022 to January 2025
- Thangaraj et al, The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2025 (ICMR-NIE), 5,726 estimated rabies deaths a year; 20.5% no ARV; 49.1% incomplete
- NCRB, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 (full report), Killed by animals: 1,742 deaths in 2023, 1,630 in 2024; 1,269 men, 361 women
- Also consulted: Karnataka State Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination, Dept of Health and Family Welfare, February 2026, National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination by 2030 (NAPRE), Business Standard (PTI), 30 July 2024, Lok Sabha reply, Business Standard (PTI), 22 July 2025, Lok Sabha reply, Onmanorama, 10 September 2025, Kerala DHS data, Kerala Kaumudi, 3 February 2026, The Week (PTI), 20 July 2025, Karnataka health department IDSP data, Supreme Court judgment, 19 May 2026, Suo Motu WP(C) 5 of 2025, Supreme Court order, 7 November 2025, The Tribune, 29 July 2025, LiveLaw, 28 June 2023, Onmanorama, 21 February 2023, The News Minute, 23 February 2023, Luka et al, Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia 2026, Rabies vaccines: WHO position paper, April 2018, Minutes of NCDC expert group meeting to review rabies guidelines, 8 January 2019, The South First, 30 October 2024, on the ICMR study, Daily Excelsior (PTI), Lok Sabha reply, 24 July 2026, The Goan, 7 July 2024, Thakral and Kumar, Academic Forensic Pathology 2026 (autopsy case report), The Week, 22 October 2025, on Delhi MCD rabies data.
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