Data · Updated 2026-10-01
India Pet & Veterinary Statistics
The numbers behind India's pets and the vets who care for them — compiled from Government of India open data and Parliament answers, refreshed every month. Free to cite with attribution.
Quick answers
Direct answers to the most-searched questions, from the official data on this page.
How many dog bite cases are reported in India every year?
India reported 37,17,336 (37.2 lakh) dog bite cases in 2024, per the Government's reply in the Lok Sabha on 22 July 2025 — about 10,157 every day, or one every 8.5 seconds. The 1 April 2025 answer put 2023 at 30,52,521 and 2022 at 21,89,909, so reported cases rose about 22% in 2024.
How many people die of rabies in India every year?
States reported 54 suspected human rabies deaths in 2024 on the IDSP-IHIP portal (50 in 2023, 21 in 2022). Reported deaths are a large undercount: an ICMR-NIE survey published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (January 2025) estimated about 5,726 rabies deaths a year in India, with 9.1 million animal bites, 76.8% of them by dogs.
How many veterinarians are there in India?
India had 81,938 registered veterinary practitioners as on 31 March 2023 — roughly one vet for every 6,539 livestock animals, before counting pets.
How many stray dogs are there in India?
The 20th Livestock Census (2019) counted about 1.53 crore (15.3 million) stray dogs in India. Fieldwork for the 21st Livestock Census began on 25 October 2024; its results had not been published as of this page's last update.
Which state reports the most dog bites?
Maharashtra reported the most dog bite cases in 2024 (4,85,345), followed by Tamil Nadu (4,80,427) and Gujarat (3,92,837).
How many veterinary hospitals are there in India?
India had 67,889 public veterinary facilities as on 31 March 2024 — hospitals and polyclinics, dispensaries, and aid centres combined. 25% of sanctioned government vet-doctor posts were vacant in 2023.
How big is India's pet care market?
India's pet care market is estimated at $8.6 billion in 2025, with about 70% of Indian pet parents being first-time owners.
Dog bite cases in India
Reported cases fell through the pandemic years and have climbed every year since — 37.2 lakh in 2024, roughly one every 8.5 seconds.
Reported dog bite cases per year (national)
Source: 2018–21: Rajya Sabha Q.1058, 12 Dec 2023 (data.gov.in). 2022–24: Lok Sabha Q.4870, 1 Apr 2025, IDSP-IHIP data as on 27 Feb 2025. The two answers use different data cuts, so the 2021→2022 step is not a like-for-like comparison.
States with the most reported cases, 2024
Source: Lok Sabha Q.4870, 1 Apr 2025, Annexure I (IDSP-IHIP as on 27 Feb 2025)
Suspected human rabies deaths reported by states, 2024
National: 21 (2022), 50 (2023), 54 (2024). These are deaths states reported on the surveillance portal; the ICMR-NIE estimate of about 5,726 a year counts deaths that never reach a hospital record.
Source: Lok Sabha Q.4870, 1 Apr 2025, Annexure II; Lancet Infectious Diseases, Jan 2025
Reading these numbers
- Two 2024 totals are in circulation: 37,15,713 (April 2025 answer, data as on 27 Feb 2025) and 37,17,336 (July 2025 answer). This page uses the later one for the national figure and the April table for state rows.
- The 2018–2023 table on data.gov.in was answered on 12 December 2023, so its 2023 column (27,59,758) is a partial year. The full-year 2023 figure is 30,52,521.
- Case counts are bites reported at government facilities, not all bites. The ICMR-NIE household survey put animal bites at about 9.1 million a year.
- The Government has stated it has not formally assessed the Animal Birth Control programme's effect on stray-dog numbers (Lok Sabha Q.4870, parts d and e).
India's veterinary capacity
India has 81,938 registered veterinary practitioners and 67,889 public veterinary facilities — and a quarter of sanctioned government vet posts are unfilled. Distance to care is a real barrier, which is exactly the gap online consultation closes.
Registered veterinary practitioners by state (top 10, 2023)
Source: State/UT-wise Number of Registered Veterinary Practitioners as on 31-03-2023 (data.gov.in)
Vacant government vet-doctor posts (%, states with 500+ sanctioned posts)
Source: State/UT-wise Sanctioned and Vacant Posts of Veterinary Doctors as on 31-01-2023 (data.gov.in)
India's animal & pet population
The 20th Livestock Census (2019) counted 535.8 million livestock. Pets are counted separately — and India's pet population is growing faster than its veterinary capacity.
Livestock population by species, millions (2019 census)
Source: Species-wise Livestock Population, 20th Livestock Census (2019) (data.gov.in)
Full state-by-state table (all 36 states/UTs)
| State/UT | Dog bites 2024 | Dog bites 2023 | Rabies deaths 2024 | Registered vets | Vet facilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 455 | 528 | 0 | 59 | 72 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 2,45,174 | 2,12,146 | 1 | 5,324 | 3,472 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 6,388 | 4,409 | 1 | 232 | 510 |
| Assam | 1,66,232 | 94,945 | 1 | 3,154 | 1,219 |
| Bihar | 2,63,930 | 2,41,827 | 2 | 3,464 | 2,730 |
| Chandigarh | 8,644 | 11,782 | 0 | 13 | 14 |
| Chhattisgarh | 38,268 | 29,221 | 0 | 1,215 | 1,266 |
| Delhi | 25,210 | 17,874 | 0 | 466 | 77 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 7,926 | 5,921 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Goa | 17,236 | 11,904 | 0 | 222 | 77 |
| Gujarat | 3,92,837 | 2,78,537 | 1 | 4,447 | 2,064 |
| Haryana | 60,417 | 42,690 | 0 | 2,372 | 2,956 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 22,909 | 21,096 | 3 | 1,402 | 3,456 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 51,027 | 34,664 | 0 | 1,057 | 1,500 |
| Jharkhand | 43,874 | 31,251 | 1 | 927 | 892 |
| Karnataka | 3,61,494 | 2,32,715 | 5 | 4,786 | 4,254 |
| Kerala | 1,15,046 | 71,606 | 3 | 5,172 | 1,164 |
| Ladakh | 4,078 | 2,569 | 0 | 76 | 140 |
| Lakshadweep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 9 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1,42,948 | 1,13,499 | 6 | 3,039 | 2,711 |
| Maharashtra | 4,85,345 | 4,72,790 | 14 | 10,570 | 4,856 |
| Manipur | 9,257 | 2,964 | 2 | 561 | 233 |
| Meghalaya | 17,784 | 9,611 | 4 | 433 | 251 |
| Mizoram | 1,873 | 1,141 | 0 | 351 | 147 |
| Nagaland | 714 | 600 | 0 | 350 | 168 |
| Odisha | 1,66,792 | 92,848 | 0 | 2,791 | 4,094 |
| Puducherry | 12,148 | 13,006 | 0 | 535 | 124 |
| Punjab | 22,912 | 18,680 | 0 | 4,285 | 2,900 |
| Rajasthan | 1,40,543 | 1,03,533 | 0 | 4,853 | 10,335 |
| Sikkim | 8,601 | 6,636 | 0 | 199 | 146 |
| Tamil Nadu | 4,80,427 | 4,41,796 | 2 | 6,245 | 3,869 |
| Telangana | 1,21,997 | 1,19,014 | 0 | 2,124 | 2,117 |
| Tripura | 9,641 | 6,510 | 1 | 451 | 543 |
| Uttarakhand | 23,091 | 25,623 | 0 | 1,156 | 1,120 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1,64,009 | 2,29,921 | 6 | 6,907 | 5,050 |
| West Bengal | 76,486 | 48,664 | 1 | 2,661 | 3,338 |
Dog bites and rabies deaths: Lok Sabha Q.4870, 1 Apr 2025 (IDSP-IHIP as on 27 Feb 2025). Vets: as on 31 Mar 2023; facilities: as on 31 Mar 2024 (data.gov.in). A “—” means the source table has no row for that State/UT.
Cite this page
Journalists, researchers and bloggers are welcome to use these figures with attribution:
Methodology: government figures are fetched from the official data.gov.in APIs and refreshed monthly; state totals are summed from state-level rows, excluding “Total” rows. Parliament answers not yet on data.gov.in are transcribed from the official PDFs (Lok Sabha Q.4870) and checked against the totals printed in them; each table shows its as-of date. Industry figures carry their own citation. Government data is used under the Government Open Data License – India. Need a vet's comment on any of these numbers? contact@vetezy.com.
One vet for every 6,539 animals — but yours is a video call away
Consult a registered veterinarian online, from anywhere in India.