A new citywide survey has found that Kolkata residents show strong levels of compassion toward street animals, while also revealing a significant gap in public understanding of animal-welfare laws, feeding practices and Animal Birth Control guidelines.
The Kolkata Compassion Index Survey Report, unveiled by Humane World for Animals India alongside state government officials, surveyed more than 2,000 residents across the city to understand how people perceive, interact with and respond to animals living in public spaces.
The findings paint a largely positive picture.
Most respondents said they were comfortable around street animals. Large majorities supported feeding them, punishing animal abuse and introducing animal-welfare education in schools.
But the report also found that a substantial number of people do not understand the legal and administrative framework governing street animals.
That tension — high compassion but uneven knowledge — may be the most important takeaway from the survey.
58% of respondents feel comfortable around street animals
According to the survey, 58% of respondents said they felt comfortable around street animals.
Another 22% described themselves as neutral, while 20% said they were uncomfortable.
Dogs and cats were the animals most closely associated with Kolkata’s streets, identified by 64% of those surveyed.
For a dense urban city, those numbers are notable. A majority expressing comfort suggests that coexistence already has a strong social base, giving authorities an opportunity to build on existing empathy rather than starting from hostility.
Public attitudes matter because local cooperation can influence how feeding, sterilisation, vaccination, relocation and cruelty-response programmes work at neighbourhood level.
86% support feeding street animals
One of the strongest findings concerns feeding.
Around 86% of respondents said feeding street animals is necessary, while only 4% actively opposed or resisted the practice.
That suggests community feeding is deeply accepted in Kolkata.
But feeding can also become contentious when it is carried out in high-footfall areas or without coordination with sterilisation, vaccination and waste management.
The next step is therefore ensuring people understand how to feed responsibly and safely.
A compassionate feeding culture can support community animals, but it works best when feeders are also aware of sterilisation status, vaccination needs and local arrangements designed to avoid conflict.
83% support punishment for animal abuse
The survey also found strong backing for legal action against cruelty.
Eighty-three per cent of respondents said people who abuse animals should be punished.
The figure suggests animal protection is not viewed merely as a private concern of feeders or rescuers.
It also points to an opportunity for clearer cruelty-reporting mechanisms so public opposition can translate into enforcement.
Residents who witness abuse need to know where complaints should be filed and which authorities can intervene.
That practical knowledge is particularly important if strong public support for punishment is to result in meaningful protection for animals.
More than 80% want animal welfare taught in schools
Education emerged as another major area of agreement.
More than 80% of respondents supported including animal-welfare education in school curricula.
Practical animal-welfare education can go beyond kindness to cover safe behaviour around dogs, responsible pet ownership, rabies awareness, sterilisation, vaccination and what to do when an animal is injured.
For a city where people and community animals share the same streets, that knowledge can support both public safety and animal welfare.
School-based education could also help shape how future pet owners and community caregivers understand their responsibilities toward animals from an early age.
The biggest gap is legal and regulatory awareness
Despite the strong pro-animal sentiment, awareness of regulations is much weaker.
The largest group in the survey — 38% of respondents — reported negligible or no knowledge of street-animal welfare regulations.
People may support feeding animals and opposing cruelty while still being unsure about sterilisation, relocation, community feeding or municipal responsibilities.
The survey therefore suggests Kolkata needs legal literacy and practical animal-welfare education, not just more compassion campaigns.
This knowledge gap can become especially important during neighbourhood disputes.
Residents may support animals in principle but still disagree sharply over what should happen when dogs gather in one area, when a bite occurs, or when someone demands relocation.
Clearer awareness of the rules could reduce some of those conflicts.
Senior citizens were the most informed group
The age-wise findings reveal another interesting pattern.
Residents aged 61 to 75 showed the highest level of knowledge regarding street-animal welfare guidelines.
This group also recorded the strongest opposition to the relocation of street animals.
By contrast, respondents aged 31 to 45 contained the largest share of people who said they had no knowledge at all of animal-welfare regulations.
The difference suggests awareness campaigns may need to vary by age group rather than assuming digitally connected adults are automatically better informed.
Targeted social-media communication, resident-welfare programmes and neighbourhood awareness sessions could therefore play different roles depending on the audience.
Survey raises questions about ABC consistency
The report also suggests that Kolkata’s Animal Birth Control programme may have been implemented unevenly across neighbourhoods and different time periods.
That observation should not be treated as a formal operational audit.
However, it does raise an important policy question.
India’s Animal Birth Control framework depends on sustained sterilisation, anti-rabies vaccination, recovery and local follow-up.
If one neighbourhood receives regular coverage while another does not, outcomes can vary sharply.
In May 2026, the Supreme Court also called for stronger ABC implementation nationally after noting inconsistencies across jurisdictions.
For Kolkata, consistent implementation will be essential if public compassion is to translate into measurable improvements in animal welfare, population stability and rabies prevention.
Compassion cannot replace structured population management
One of the broader lessons from the survey is that goodwill alone cannot manage a large urban community-animal population.
Compassion cannot substitute for structured population management.
Feeding does not replace vaccination, and rescue does not replace sterilisation.
Effective coexistence requires responsible feeding, ABC, vaccination, waste management, public education, legal awareness and cruelty enforcement working together.
That combination is what makes the Kolkata Compassion Index particularly useful.
It identifies areas where strong public support already exists while highlighting the parts of the system where information and implementation remain weak.
Humane coexistence depends on better information
Arkaprava Bhar, senior manager with the government affairs team at Humane World for Animals India, said the findings demonstrate that Kolkata has a strong cultural foundation of compassion.
The real challenge is turning that compassion into informed action.
That means helping residents understand relocation rules, how ABC works, why sterilised dogs may be returned to their original area, how feeding should be managed and where cruelty or injured-animal cases should be reported.
Clearer information can also reduce conflict between caregivers and residents concerned about safety or hygiene.
Many disagreements surrounding community animals are not simply about whether people like or dislike dogs.
They also arise because different groups have different understandings of the law and of what local authorities are expected to do.
The survey can guide city-level policy
The Kolkata Compassion Index is more than a snapshot of public opinion.
It can potentially serve as a roadmap for future animal-welfare policy.
The weak point is knowledge.
Future programmes could therefore focus on ABC awareness, responsible feeding guidance, rabies education, cruelty-reporting mechanisms, school programmes and clearer communication from civic and veterinary authorities.
Neighbourhood-level awareness may be particularly valuable because attitudes and implementation can vary considerably across a large city.
Better communication between civic authorities, veterinarians, animal-welfare organisations, feeders and residents could make existing programmes more effective without creating entirely new structures.
Kolkata’s biggest asset may already be its people
The most encouraging conclusion from the survey is that Kolkata may not need to build compassion from zero.
It already exists.
A majority of residents are comfortable around street animals.
Most support feeding them.
Most want abusers punished.
Most want children to learn about animal welfare.
That gives policymakers and animal-welfare organisations a strong base to work from.
The next step is matching empathy with knowledge so Kolkata can move toward a more stable model of humane coexistence between people and community animals.
The city’s compassion is already visible.
The challenge now is making that compassion informed, organised and effective.
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