The Kindness City: Human-Animal Co-Existence and the Future of Bengaluru

The Kindness City is a landscape study that maps the current state of small community animal welfare in Bengaluru, identifies key stakeholders, and highlights the challenges and opportunities that shape human–animal coexistence in the city. Grounded in a systems-thinking approach, the study draws on secondary research, 27 expert interviews, surveys with 8 NGOs, and two practitioner validation circles. It concludes with a philanthropy- and NGO-led Theory of Change and a set of actionable recommendations that link animal welfare with public safety, public health, waste management, food security, and urban planning.

Key Findings 

1. Most community animals in Bengaluru, like in other Indian cities, have deep ties to their neighborhoods and caregivers; wherever proximate humans have taken on the onus of regularly feeding them and ensuring they are neutered, human-animal conflict is significantly reduced: Ground practitioners who have observed human-animal interactions on the streets have attested how neutering and sustained, habitual feeding are the two strongest ways to manage populations of community animals. Ensuring this at the hyperlocal levels ensures that animals going into the healthcare and shelter systems are those that need critical care (victims of accidents, disease and cruelty) - this also unburdens these systems and helps them run efficiently.

1. While humane population control is something all key stakeholders are aligned on, it requires more consistent implementation and city-wide scaling: The city administration has delegated animal birth control (ABC) to select institutions and piloted population monitoring initiatives, particularly for dogs. Budget allocations, however, remain unclear and relatively small, limiting continuity and long-term planning. With many competing civic responsibilities and working over-capacity, community animal welfare often becomes deprioritized. Moreover, the population management of feral cats is not an official mandate for the city administration. In this domain, partnerships between NGOs and philanthropies are moving the needle. The Maitri (Murty Trust)-CUPA Spay & Neuter Centre for community cats is a specialized facility committed to the humane management of Bengaluru’s community cat population through their Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) services as well as vaccination drives. The program has specifically begun with cat populations on the outskirts and is systematically progressing from there to the city center – this reflects an efficient strategy, considering the influx of animals from the outskirts.

1. Bengaluru has some of the country’s most mature and scalable NGO models for community animal welfare, however, they are working well over capacity, geared towards constant crisis-response: Bengaluru has a mature NGO ecosystem for community animal welfare, with strong public empathy and active civic mobilization, but it is operating above capacity. NGOs deliver essential rescue, caregiving, rehabilitation, and shelter services for both community animals and urban wildlife, yet many are stretched and functioning at their limits. Ground practitioners focus heavily on emergency response, while root-cause solutions and collaboration remain limited. Structural issues linked to rapid urbanization, littering, unregulated waste zones, low public awareness, and hazardous infrastructure remain unaddressed. Empirical data beyond dogs is minimal, creating large visibility gaps; the city lacks any dataset for feral cats despite their high numbers and fast reproduction. With organizations absorbed in day-to-day service delivery, connection, cross-learning, and coordinated action receive little attention.

1. There are abundant private veterinary clinics, but public healthcare infrastructure and workforce for community animals is limited – reducing the scope for the public to freely participate: Karnataka’s public veterinary system is overstretched, with half of government posts vacant and 23 hospitals closing in recent years.9 In Bengaluru, public veterinary hospitals are primarily designed for livestock, leaving community animals dependent on an already fragile and insufficient care ecosystem. Despite a sizeable and decentralized presence of private veterinary clinics and hospitals for domestic pets, most community animals who require free healthcare have nowhere to be taken.

1. Backyard breeding and unlicensed pet trade contribute significantly to free-roaming and abandoned community animal populations: Bengaluru has only 24 licensed breeders on the official directory – an inaccurate number which ground practitioners say is significantly higher.10 Unchecked sales, impulse purchases, and lack of breeder accountability lead to high rates of relinquishment and neglect.