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As India grapples with its stray dog crisis, Thailand’s CNVR model – Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release – offers a humane, sustainable roadmap for change.
Sterilisation, education, and legislation are key to humane population control.
Across the sunlit alleys of Bangkok and the shaded courtyards of Mumbai, one presence is familiar: it’s the omnipresent street dog. Both India and Thailand are home to large free-roaming dog populations that have become a part of their urban and rural identity. But how each country manages this shared reality tells two very different stories.
In recent months, conversations around stray dogs in India have reached a new pitch. At the centre of it all is growing public concern, legal developments, and increasing scrutiny of animal welfare infrastructure. A recent case that drew national attention involved an Animal Birth Control (ABC) shelter in Rohini, where conditions were found to be deeply inadequate. The footage and eyewitness reports revealed overcrowding, poor hygiene, and inadequate veterinary oversight, all symptoms not of a flawed idea, but of a failing system.
Niall Harbison, who has become a beacon of hope for strays around the world, revealed that he re-evaluated his life’s purpose after he came face-to-face with death due to alcoholism. “It was when I was lying in the emergency room that I decided my life had to have a meaning,” Harbison shares.
Thailand, like India’s is home to millions of dogs, while views on their existence may differ at times, what remains constant are the efforts of activists like Harbison to tackle the problem humanely and scientifically. As he recently made his way to Delhi, Niall chimed in with a refreshingly grounded perspective based on his ongoing work in Thailand.
The CNVR Model: A System That Works
Thailand’s approach, led in part by Harbison’s efforts, focuses on CNVR – Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release. This scientifically backed method helps manage the dog population without removing dogs from their territories or relying on permanent sheltering. Instead, it seeks to stabilise and slowly reduce the stray population over time while keeping the animals healthy and disease-free.
“We have already sterilised over 1,00,000 dogs,” Harbison says. “And now we’re seeing fewer puppies, healthier packs, and communities beginning to feel the difference.”
Unlike shelters that often become overwhelmed, CNVR is scalable and sustainable when implemented with consistency and coordination. And, crucially, it respects the reality of free-roaming dogs rather than trying to eliminate them.
India’s Challenge: A Matter of Scale and Structure
India’s problem is not a lack of compassion. Across the country, individuals and small groups do extraordinary work with limited resources. But the issue, Harbison notes, lies in the lack of coordination and structured, science-driven implementation.
“The country is so big that it would need massive collaboration,” he explains. “Government, NGOs, local communities, everyone has to be on the same page.”
Furthermore, reflecting on his visit to Delhi, he emphasised that the Rohini shelter is a stark reminder of what happens when efforts are fragmented. Poorly maintained facilities, lack of accountability, and a disconnect between policy and practice can end up doing more harm than good, both for the animals and the communities around them.
“This is not a proper CNVR solution,” Harbison says of the Rohini case. “It’s far away from what actually works.”
Changing the Narrative: From Conflict to Coexistence
In a country as vast and diverse as India, changing how people see street dogs is as important as managing the population, for which Niall believes that the key lies in three interconnected areas:
- Sterilisation: The cornerstone of any long-term strategy.
- Education: Creating awareness at the community level about how and why humane population control works.
- Legislation: Policies that protect animals and communities while encouraging responsible actions from all stakeholders.
“It’s not just about dogs,” Harbison reminds us. “It’s about public health, urban planning, and compassion. It’s a human issue as much as an animal one.”
Looking Ahead
Currently, India is at a crossroads; however, with the right alignment of science, policy, and community effort, it can redefine its approach to street dogs not as a problem to be removed, but as a population to be managed.
Thailand’s progress, though still ongoing, offers a practical path forward. What it shows us is that lasting change doesn’t require perfection, but what it requires is structure, commitment, and the will to work together.
As Harbison puts it, “Only when sterilisation, education, and legislation come together can we start to see real progress. And only when every part of society plays a role, will it last.”
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
