The Greek alphabet ϵ (epsilon) is used in maths and science to denote a quantity which is not zero, but extremely small
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Since the Supreme Court's interim order on the issue of stray dogs came out on 07 Nov 2025, there have been a range of opinion pieces speaking for the voiceless. Most of them take the stance that there is a "problem" with stray dogs, but that we need a humane solution. I agree with this broadly, but I think we need new terminology to talk about this.
When we say the phrase "stray dog problem", it somehow equates this with the myriad other problems our society faces: illiteracy, poverty, corruption, air pollution, unemployment, unsafe roads, infant mortality, the falling rupee, even extreme delays in the judicial system. Putting the "stray dog problem" in the same bucket, even terminologically, is a complete misrepresentation.
In maths as well as science, it is common to use the Greek letter ϵ (epsilon) to denote a quantity which is just above zero, but small enough to treat as zero for most (but not all) purposes.
I posit that the "stray dog problem" henceforth should be referred to as an ϵ-problem. I justify this below with numbers.
Rabies deaths: The biggest reason for fear of dogs is rabies. The suo motu Supreme Court case itself is based on a news report — not investigated or verified — of a child supposedly dying of rabies.
Comparison with other causes: The counted toll of rabies deaths has been around 50 per year in India [link]. Statistical estimates put the rabies toll anywhere between about 5,000 per year [link] and about 20,000 per year [link]. How does this compare with, say, road traffic accidents?
As per the NCRB report, 1.73 lakh people died in road accidents in 2023 [link]. This is the counted, not the estimated, toll. So road traffic accidents are anywhere from about 9 to 3,500 times more deadly. Yet no sane person is constantly afraid of cars and motorbikes. In fact, every person contributes to road accident risk each time they use a vehicle or order 10-minute delivery.
To take another comparison: every year, more than 7 lakh infants under the age of one die in India due to preventable, malnutrition-related causes. Has the Supreme Court taken suo motu cognizance of this far larger scale of needless child death? Why not?
If road traffic safety and infant mortality are significant problems, it stands to mathematical reason that rabies is an ϵ-problem by comparison. While we do have to pay it some attention (it is not a zero-problem), it defies logic to let it occupy society's consciousness so disproportionately (it is an ϵ-problem).
Estimates based on models: The scientific publications cited above that estimate rabies deaths in India are not based on counts but on models. The first study [link] does not include a single rabies death among 78,807 surveyed households, yet estimates 5,000 deaths per year. The second study [link] includes no human rabies deaths confirmed by a medical professional — only "probable cases" based on verbal surveys of family members conducted a year or more after the death. The fact that such large-scale studies cannot find a single medically confirmed instance of rabies lends further support to calling it an ϵ-problem. While not a complete non-problem, it is an ϵ-problem.
Such model-based studies have their merits, but they are certainly not fit for the purpose of policy-making — and certainly not for the proposed mass punishment of an entire species.
Dog bites: While rabies is a rare but extreme outcome of bites, any dog bite is of course painful and frightening. But constant fear of dog bites simply does not fit with dogs having been called "man's best friend" for over 10,000 years of civilisation. Let us look at some numbers.
The bite risk in comparison: Official data on dog bites [link] estimates about 37 lakh bites in 2024. For the dog-averse, this number sounds huge. It is even translated into figures like 10,000 bites per day or 7 bites per minute, to further fan fear. But what the dog-averse do not appreciate is the scale of India — we have 140 crore people. The same figure of 37 lakhs translates to about 1-in-400 people being bitten every year. Suddenly it does not sound so scary.
The fear is further defanged when compared with other numbers. There are an estimated 10 million child labourers in India [link] — roughly 1-in-26 children. In terms of pain and suffering, the constant hunger and insecurity of child labourers should easily rate far higher than a dog bite. What about the lack of quality education that drives such child labour? As per the 2024 ASER report, 2-in-3 children cannot read or do arithmetic at grade level. Where are the suo motu cases for these far larger problems?
If 1-in-26 children in labour and 2-in-3 children receiving inadequate education are problems, it stands to mathematical reason that 1-in-400 is an ϵ-problem. Yet the 07 Nov 2025 Supreme Court order wants school resources spent on fencing rather than on teachers or blackboards. How absurd.
Wild exaggeration of the stray dog bite count: Even the above 1-in-400 figure is a gross overestimate, for at least three reasons.
There is no official methodology for counting dog bites, and anecdotal evidence suggests that what is counted is the number of rabies injections administered. Since four or five doses are given per bite, the 1-in-400 figure is likely overstated by a factor of four or five.
Even the most conservative, precaution-driven WHO does not recommend rabies shots for mere licks on unbroken skin (category-1 exposure) [link]. Yet it is common for the dog-averse to seek rabies shots even for such exposure. Anecdotally, some people request the shots even when a doctor does not recommend them — contributing further to an overcount.
A large proportion of rabies shots are for bites by pet dogs, not strays. A 2015 study at a hospital in Ernakulam found only 1-in-4 bites attributable to stray dogs [link].
The correct terminology: ϵ-problem — Given all of the above, it is inaccurate to call stray dogs a "problem" when quantifiably far larger problems such as unsafe roads and poor-quality education do not occupy our consciousness to nearly the same degree. Many who speak up for stray dogs do refer to them as a "problem" — for lack of better terminology and out of politeness, since the issue looms large in the minds of the dog-averse. The correct terminology should be ϵ-problem: polite and accurate. Not a zero-problem, but not a large one either. It is a mathematical absurdity, and a grave disservice to India's children, that the Supreme Court has ignored quantifiably far larger problems such as infant mortality and child labour while taking up an ϵ-problem.
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Bhaskaran Raman is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay. Views are personal
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