Misreading Coexistence: A Scientific Rebuttal to Survey-Based Inferences on Street Dog Safety Perception in India
Why the “91% Feel Safer Because of Street Dogs” Claim Doesn’t Hold Up to Science December 6, 2025 Whitepaper Confirmation Bias in the study reporting 91% Indians feel safer because of street dogs: This whitepaper aims not to challenge the intent behind any particular publication or think tank, but to reinforce the need for rigorous, […]
A Multispecies Coexistence Blind Spot Exposes Ecological Governance Failures
On 11 August 2025, the Indian Supreme Court (SC) ordered local governments in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR)—a 4,500 km² region—to capture and relocate an estimated 2.5 million free-ranging dogs into shelters within eight weeks. The directive aimed to mitigate India’s enormous burden of ~20 million annual dog bites and ~20,000 annual human rabies deaths, nearly 40% of global fatalities. Yet, after nationwide protests and a petition with 370,000 signatures, the SC reversed its mandate 11 days later, instructing authorities to sterilize, vaccinate, and return dogs to their territories while prohibiting roadside feeding.
Surprisingly, on 7 November 2025, the SC re-revised its order, reinstating the directive to remove dogs from hospitals, transport hubs, and educational institutions, and relocate them to shelters—despite such facilities not existing at required scale. The court also ordered fencing to prevent re-entry and removal of cattle from highways.
Why did a public-health-driven policy trigger such fierce opposition that the SC pivoted repeatedly within weeks? This paper examines the socio-ecological, cultural, and operational dynamics that underlie India’s urban dog crisis and outlines evidence-based solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms.
The Mirror of Erised: Dire Wolf Resurrection and the Perils of Chasing “Species’ Ghosts”
The Mirror of Erised: Dire Wolf Resurrection and the Perils of Chasing “Species’ Ghosts” April 23, 2025 Whitepaper Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, where the Mirror of Erised reveals one’s deepest desires but warns against dwelling on unattainable dreams, and where bringing back the dead carries grave consequences, this article explores the contentious […]
Assessing “Monkey see, Monkey do” approaches: Imitation games involving langur call mimics and human-macaque coexistence arms race
Assessing “Monkey see, Monkey do” approaches: Imitation games involving langur call mimics and human-macaque coexistence arms race March 3, 2025 Whitepaper The film “Eeb Allay Ooo!” by Prateek Vats and Anurag Kashyap might be fiction, but it sparked a real coexistence question: How do humans and macaques live together in a city like Delhi? Executive […]
Can human-dog friendship withstand the ‘virtual reality’ paradox?
Can human-dog friendship withstand the ‘virtual reality’ paradox? May 5, 2024 Whitepaper In the Anthropocene epoch, many species struggled to cope with the rapid changes in their environment, including changes to their habits and habitats. https://youtu.be/lu0G731WJeg We are witnessing an intriguing paradox in the urban mosaic of human-animal coexistence, against the backdrop of widespread decline […]
