The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to build a stray dog sanctuary on a five-acre plot in Malwani to remove stray dogs from sensitive public places in mumbai. The proposal is yet to be greenlit from the Urban Development Department of Maharashtra. Once it is approved, it will be the first stray dog sanctuary in Mumbai.
The move comes after directions issued by the Supreme Court of India in November 2025. The court instructed all states and union territories to remove stray dogs from public areas and place them in recognised shelters.
Mumbai’s Stray Dog Population
According to a BMC report called “Evaluation of Street Dog Population Management and Sterilisation Impact", Mumbai currently has about 90,757 stray dogs. Interestingly, the city had more than 95,000 stray dogs in 2014.
Until now, the civic body was focusing on sterilising stray dogs and then releasing them back into the same areas where they were found. The report states that around 62.9% of the expected stray dog population in 2024 had been sterilised. However, some dogs are still unsterilised. About 10.3% of female dogs and 18.3% of male dogs have not yet undergone the procedure.
New Plan for Stray Dogs
Under the new plan, dogs will still be sterilised and vaccinated. But, instead of being released back into the same locations, they will be shifted to approved shelters.
In the first phase, dogs will be removed from high-traffic and sensitive locations. These include hospitals, schools, railway stations, stadiums, and bus depots. The process will follow the guidelines mentioned in the Supreme Court’s order.
Proposed Shelter and its Features
The exact capacity of the proposed Malwani shelter has not yet been decided. As per sources, the facility will be designed according to standards issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). They had issued guidelines on how dog shelters should be designed and managed. These rules include standards for space, layout, and basic facilities.
An AWBI circular issued in November 2025 suggests that shelters can be planned for 100, 500, or 1,000 dogs. It also recommends certain basic features. These include open areas for dogs, systems for waste management, feeding and watering stations, and veterinary care facilities. The circular also calls for six-foot-high fencing and the appointment of staff such as watchmen, cleaners, and animal caretakers.
At present, the BMC does not operate any civic-run dog shelters. The city also faces a shortage of open land. Because of this, the civic body plans to use a public-private partnership model to create shelters. It also plans to repurpose amenity plots to house sterilised dogs.
Alongside the shelter plan, the BMC has also been running rabies awareness campaigns in different parts of the city. In February, the civic body conducted awareness drives in 21 localities and in 82 schools across Mumbai