Stray dogs are a common sight across Nepal. They sleep outside shops, follow pedestrians through crowded streets and gather in market squares from Kathmandu to remote hill towns. For many people, they are familiar companions of public spaces. But they are also at the centre of a growing public health and safety challenge.

Dog bites, road accidents and rabies infections continue to raise concerns across the country, where the population of stray and community dogs is estimated to exceed two million. In Kathmandu alone, animal welfare groups estimate there are more than 20,000 stray dogs roaming the streets.

Now, a municipality in Baglung is testing what local officials describe as a more humane and structured solution.

Baglung Municipality has built what it calls a “dog hostel” to manage stray dogs while reducing risks to residents and other animals. The municipality has launched a campaign to capture stray dogs from streets and place them in the facility.

Municipal officials say the initiative is designed to address two problems at once: protecting stray dogs and reducing public health risks, particularly rabies.

The hostel was constructed under an innovation programme in partnership with the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of Gandaki Province. The project cost Rs100 million, with the municipality contributing Rs35 million and the provincial government providing Rs65 million.

Built in ward 3 of Baglung Municipality, the facility is now beginning operations.

Mayor Basant Kumar Shrestha said the programme was introduced as part of the municipality’s policy to manage community dogs and reduce risks associated with stray animals.

“The hostel had to be brought into operation to control the risks posed by stray dogs on the streets and prevent diseases such as rabies,” Shrestha said.

Municipal officials say many residents suffer injuries from dog attacks every year, and some rabies cases have also been linked to dog bites.

According to the World Health Organisation, dogs account for around 99 percent of rabies transmission to humans in countries where the disease remains common. Government and WHO figures show that around 32 people die from rabies annually in Nepal.

Mitra Lal Sapkota, chief of the municipality’s animal service branch, said the campaign aims to protect both animals and people.

“With the support of the municipal police, we have been vaccinating stray dogs and capturing them to send to the hostel,” Sapkota said.

He said the municipality plans to keep 50 dogs in the first phase and later expand capacity to 100.

“The dog hostel is a model programme,” Sapkota said. “The municipality itself will regularly manage food for the dogs kept in the hostel.”

Officials say dogs housed in the facility will receive regular vaccinations and medical care. The municipality also hopes that healthy dogs can eventually be adopted by local residents interested in keeping pets.

The municipality has simultaneously launched a rabies vaccination drive for both pet and community dogs. Medicines required for dogs are also being provided free of charge.

Under new municipal rules, pet owners must register their dogs by paying a fee of Rs200. Registered dogs receive free vaccination and medicine services.

Authorities have also started identifying vaccinated dogs using coloured collars: red for pet dogs and blue for community dogs.

The municipality now manages the disposal of dead dogs as part of the programme, another issue that local authorities say had previously gone largely unmanaged.

For many residents, the most immediate impact has been on daily movement through the town.

Local resident Rabi Subedi said stray dogs had become a growing concern, particularly during early mornings and at night.

“There used to be risks while walking on the streets early in the morning and at night,” he said. “Managing the dogs has been good for pedestrians.”

He added that dogs housed in the hostel should not be released back onto the streets.

Nepal has long struggled to balance animal welfare with public safety. Animal rights advocates argue that stray dogs have a right to live and should not be subjected to cruelty, while public health experts warn that unmanaged dog populations increase risks of rabies and attacks.

Large-scale culling campaigns carried out in South Asia in previous decades often drew criticism from animal welfare groups and were shown to have limited long-term impact on controlling stray populations. More recent approaches have focused on vaccination, sterilisation and managed shelters.

Baglung’s experiment is still small in scale, but officials hope it could become a model for other municipalities facing similar problems.