Bengaluru civic body to spend ₹2.88 crore on daily meals for 4,000 street dogs

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has issued a ₹2.88 crore tender to serve nutritious meals every day to nearly 4,000 stray dogs across the city. The goal is to enhance their health and curb aggression linked to hunger and poor nutrition.

The BBMP has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking bids from agencies registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The contract is for one year and can be extended depending on performance.

The tender document outlines clear guidelines. “This initiative is to provide food for community dogs with an average body weight of 15 kg, moderately active, requiring 465 to 750 Kcal (kilo-calories) at an allocation of allocates ₹22.42 per day per dog,” it stated.

Each meal will weigh around 600 grams and must include: Raw rice (150g), raw chicken (100g), vegetables (100g), edible oil (10g), turmeric (2.5g), and salt (5g). “All ingredients must be fresh and clean, cooked in a hygienic manner. No preservatives or artificial colouring agents are to be added in the process of preparation,” the document added.

Kitchens must be within BBMP zones, monitored by CCTV. Meals should be delivered before 11 am daily using GPS-enabled vehicles. Feeding locations will be assigned by the zonal assistant director, animal husbandry, it said.

At each location, four to five dogs will be fed using reusable bowls, which must be cleaned after every use. Agencies must also provide clean drinking water and upload photographic proof of feeding on a BBMP-approved mobile app.

Strict rules apply for non-compliance. A ₹5,000 penalty will be charged daily for poor-quality meals or short servings. A delay beyond 30 minutes will cost ₹100 per instance. Food samples will be tested every month at labs like CFTRI or FSL.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram shared his concerns about the BBMP’s feeding initiative on X (formerly Twitter). Criticising the approach of feeding stray dogs on the streets, he posted: “Dogs have no place in the streets. They need to be relocated to shelters, where they can be fed, vaccinated and sterilised. Feeding & keeping them in a free roaming state in the streets is a huge health & safety hazard.”

BBMP special commissioner (animal husbandry) Suralkar Vikas Kishore told Hindustan Times, “Food scarcity often drives aggressive behaviour in street dogs. This programme is about preventing such incidents and ensuring safer, healthier coexistence between stray animals and residents.”

He added, “With a structured feeding schedule, standardised meals, and daily app-based tracking, we are creating a more disciplined system.” The deadline to submit bids is July 18, and implementation is expected to begin by August.

Currently, Bengaluru has 2.8 lakh stray dogs, with only 2% benefiting from this initiative. Plans are in place to expand it in the future. Notably, BBMP is the only civic body in India implementing a daily feeding program for stray dogs, making this a unique effort. Hearing this, Bengaluru’s street dogs might just be howling with joy for the first time!

First Published: 

Jul 11, 2025 1:46 PM

IST