Chennai Corporation to control stray dogs to protect breeding Olive Ridley turtles in beaches

Chennai Corporation to intervene to control stray dogs on beaches to protect nesting Olive Ridley turtles in Tamil Nadu.

Chennai Corporation and other local bodies along the Tamil Nadu coast are set to launch an intervention to control stray dogs in beaches to protect nesting Olive Ridley turtles. Owing to a rise in stray dogs in beaches, the Forest Department has asked the civic agencies in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu to protect the endangered species of Olive Ridley turtles.

The nesting of Olive Ridley turtles has been disrupted in city beaches by the stray dogs. A discussion will be held this week ahead of the intervention to protect the turtles from stray dogs during the nesting season of three months from January to March.

According to sources, more than 200 stray dogs in beaches of Chennai are posing risk to nesting Olive Ridley turtles. Chennai Corporation trapped 130 dogs from Marina beach ahead of the visit of dignitaries for the Republic Day events and has provided shelters for a few days to release them in their original habitat. 

The civic agencies and the State government are likely to seek exemption from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to shift stray dogs from beaches to temporary shelters during the turtle breeding season.

If the AWBI permits creation of temporary shelter for dogs, they will be taken to there from Chennai beaches and all coastal districts, said an official.

While former Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy announced the construction of shelters for stray dogs in 2013, animal rights activist Menaka Gandhi wrote to Mr. Duraisamy to stop construction of shelters for stray dogs, and the project was shelved. Now in 2025, the Forest Department has warned that a rise in stray dogs was endangering Olive Ridley turtles. Residents have also flagged the issue of rising numbers of stray dogs threatening the nesting sites of Olive Ridley turtles in Chennai and the suburbs. 

The Forest Department, the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department and the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department are expected to write to AWBI seeking exemption from rules for temporarily shifting stray dogs from beaches to shelters during three months of nesting season. Each of the dogs get 10 sq.ft. of space during the ABC process. But the area for each dog in the shelter is expected to increase in the event of shifting from the beach to save turtles. The dogs will be released in the original habitat after the turtle breeding season is over.