In India, the local landrace, known as the Indian pariah dog, has been estimated to have existed for perhaps fourteen thousand years or more. Part of the urban population consists of mongrels or mix-breeds–descended from pure-breed dogs that have been allowed to interbreed with pariahs.
As a result of the virtual extermination by the veterinary drug diclofenac of the vultures which formerly ate animal carcasses and well as dead humans, urban India has two features which create and sustain street dog populations: large amounts of exposed animal carcasses, which provide an abundant source of food, and a huge population of slum and street-dwellers whose way of life includes keeping the dogs as free-roaming pets. For example, Mumbai has over 12 million human residents, of whom over half are slum-dwellers. At least five hundred tons of garbage remain uncollected daily. Therefore, conditions are perfect for supporting a particularly large population of stray dogs. India has the highest number of human rabies deaths in the world (estimated at 35,000 per annum).
In 2001, a law was passed in India that made the killing of stray dogs illegal, and residents often feed the animals as well.In August 2014, the Delhi Police recruited many of the city's stray dogs as police dogs, after training them.
