In its letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, PETA India submitted two documents – the Roadmap for Humane Management of Community Dogs in India and the Roadmap for Humane Management of Stray Cattle in India – based on the principles of Ahimsa and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the organization said.
PETA India also raised concerns about a standard operating procedure by the Animal Welfare Board of India, which proposes locking up community dogs for life in enclosures of about 6 square meters per animal.
The organization said such spaces are about the size of a traditional funeral pyre and warned that life imprisonment would amount to cruelty rather than a solution.
Animal welfare experts cited by the organization warned that mass incarceration would divert public resources from the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which focus on sterilization and vaccination against rabies.
With an estimated 62 million dogs roaming freely across the country, PETA India argued that there is no realistic infrastructure, financing or administrative capacity to confine even a fraction of the population without causing widespread suffering and public health risks, a statement said.
“Locking dogs for life in funeral pyre-sized spaces is not scientific population management. It is incarceration, on death row,” said Vikram Chandravanshi, Senior Policy and Legal Advisor, PETA India.
“The roadmaps show how India can effectively manage dog and cattle populations by tackling root causes such as the cruel pet trade and dairies that dump cows on the streets without resorting to cruelty,” he added.
The organization warned that overcrowded facilities used for long-term confinement could increase outbreaks of infectious diseases such as canine distemper, parvovirus and kennel cough, as well as zoonotic infections, while worsening human-animal conflict.
On stray cattle, PETA India said the lockdown fails to address dairy abandonment, noting that male calves are often abandoned at birth and female cattle are discarded once milk yields decline. It says overcrowded gaushalas with few resources cannot absorb this influx.
The livestock roadmap called for strict enforcement against illegal dairies, penalties for abandonment, traceability of livestock to source, regulation of gaushalas to prevent breeding and policies to promote plant-based milk alternatives, the report said.
PETA India said it has also written a letter to the chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, urging them to implement the recommendations.
Published on January 3, 2026
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