There are 200,000 dogs living on the streets of Ahmedabad. Whilst the government has attempted to initiate a sterilization project, this has not been successful as the government hospitals are underdeveloped and government vets are unable to perform sterilizations. For these reasons, ASHA was set up as a non-government organisation working for the street dogs. Many street dogs are victims of human cruelty but also suffer from skin problems, starvation, gastric problems and road accidents. Rabies is also very common, with 35-45 dogs dying every day. This has a large impact on the human community as poorer people are unable to afford the rabies vaccines and so die if bitten. The families of those bitten will often then attack groups of dogs leading to unnecessary suffering of the animals. Sterilization is the only option to control the population.
