Dogs in India
 

Probably not news to anyone who has been to India or any other developing country for that matter but it seems feral dogs are such a danger that the population of some towns such as Leh pack up early and go home because of them. The real danger is not just getting a bite which might go septic but rabies which if not caught earlier enough causes a horrible death so be careful out there.
Funnily enough I am on an island off of Sumatra where there are no dogs but plenty of cats that all look pretty well looked after but I was chased by a rather grumpy monkey this morning when I rode past on a scooter.

Tracking down India's killer dogs - BBC News

I will have to look at this later. But when we were in Leh in 2012, there were definitely stray dogs, however, they were not running the town. Or maybe not yet?
If you would meet such a dog on his own, they are no problem and actually playful. But in groups it can be scary. I remember one occasion in Leh where it was a dark street and these dogs were fighting each other. Not nice at all, but not aimed at humans.
It is probably only getting worse.

We got a Rabies vaccination before we left on that trip. We were doubting about it, but I think it is good to be protected because you can die pretty quickly.
However, it is one of the more expensive vaccines.

And you can usually just avoid the dogs or the areas where they are in. But never 100% of course.

I think the best you can do is make sure you have your vaccinations up to date (rabies obviously being the big one), and be cautious without trying to become paranoid about areas. I've had some friends ride in India but never heard of any villages or towns being overrun to the point people living there have to hide from them. I had to laugh about the monkey business; they're a massive problem in Thailand too, and sometimes much more than cheeky troublemakers...

We used to find nights were worse, especially if we had to pass thru a village to get to somewhere to eat. We ended up buying some mini bangers /fireworks from a local shop, you could probably fit half a dozen in ur palm, if we sensed dogs were near we lobbed one of these a few feet ahead of us to frighten then off, a loud crack best describes the noise. Very cheap and effective.
Obviously steer clear of the larger Indian fireworks as u may get more then u bargained for

Bending down as if to pick up a stone , is surprisingly effective in warding off dogs, better still if there is a stone you can pick up


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My daughter has just returned from Goa, obviously a bit of a tourist area, but she said there was no problem with dogs. There are strays of course but they have learned to be nice to tourists as they hope to get fed.