• Veterinarians perform sterilization on stray dogs inside a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Volunteers from an animal welfare organization prepare a stray dog for sterilization at a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Stray dogs are carried on stretchers after undergoing sterilization at a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • A volunteer with an animal welfare organization geo-tag stray dogs, captured from various locations, as they arrive at a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • A pack of stray dogs lie unconscious on the floor of an operation theater after undergoing sterilization procedures at a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Stray dogs recover in a shelter home after undergoing sterilization at a veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • A municipal worker catches a stray dog during a sterilization drive in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • A stray dog looks through a hole in a net after being caught by municipal workers during a sterilization drive in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Rehmat Ashraf, 6, who was attacked by a stray dog outside her house, poses for a picture inside the anti-rabies clinic at a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Rehmat Ashraf, 6, right, who was attacked by a dog outside her house, looks on as Insha Rehman, center in grey scarf, records patient details inside the anti-rabies clinic at a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Fazi, a 60-year-old woman, grimaces as she receives a dose of vaccine after being attacked by a pack of stray dogs inside the compound of her house at the anti-rabies clinic at a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • A Veterinarian prepares to administer a vaccine at the anti-rabies clinic at a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Rehmat Ashraf, 6, who was attacked by a dog outside her house, grimaces as she receives a dose of vaccine at the anti-rabies clinic at a hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
  • Feroz Ahmed carries a stick as a safety measure from stray dogs as he walks past them early in the morning in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

SRINAGAR, India | Feroz Ahmed does not leave home for his early-morning walk without a stick. Now in his 60s, he is wary of stray dogs that live nearby, on the outskirts of Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“I carry a stick to protect myself from dogs,” he says.

While Ahmed has never been attacked by a stray before, others have.

A stray dog bit Rehmat Ashraf, 6, on the face outside her house in Srinagar. Plastic surgery has so far been unsuccessful in helping her fix her scar. Fazi, a 60-year-old resident of the nearby Surasyar village — who goes by one name — was attacked by stray dogs near her house. She survived but suffered multiple injuries to her neck, arms, legs and abdomen.

Many big cities in India are grappling with a stray dog problem. Estimates put their number in the capital, New Delhi, between 500,000 and 1 million. A municipal survey in 2023 found the city of Bengaluru, known for its high-tech industry, parks and nightlife, had 279,335 stray dogs.

India’s top court ordered last month that stray dogs in New Delhi be captured, sterilized, and put into shelters in an attempt to control their population and limit their attacks. After protests from animal welfare activists, the court revised its order and asked the municipal authorities to release the sterilized dogs in the same localities where they were captured.

In Srinagar, over 6,000 cases of dog bites were reported last year — more than 80% of them severe. The municipal authority here has begun an ambitious drive to catch and sterilize over 21,000 stray dogs by the end of 2026. Dog catchers use special applications and phone cameras to record the location of the capture of stray dogs so that they can be released in the same place after being sterilized.

Dawood Mohammad, who runs an animal rescue center in Srinagar with his wife Mariya Mushtaq, says that the stray dogs are not the menace they are made out to be.

“Stray dogs can be very affectionate if treated properly, but many people are too rough with them. When puppies are harassed, mothers can show aggression. Most of the bites come from female dogs with newborns,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Ashwini Bhatia in Dharamshala, India, contributed to this report.