Pet owners of Panchkula have been left in a fix after a civic body order banning Rottweilers and Pitbulls — both deemed aggressive by the municipality — came into effect from September 30.
Pet owners, who staged a protest outside the Panchkula Municipal Corporation’s office on Tuesday to vent their ire against the ban, claimed that there were no bad dogs, just bad or no training that made the animals aggressive.
The Panchkula Municipal Corporation (MC) in its house meeting on September 29, had banned keeping Rottweiler and Pitbull breed of dogs as pets within city limits, while citing examples of various cities around the world that had taken similar decisions.
The pet owners of the city, however, had a different opinion on the matter.
“How can the civic authority just deny the right to life for these creatures? I have a female Pitbull, called Elli, who was abandoned just a few months after her birth by someone. Elli was first rescued by the Animal Welfare Association (AWA) in 2019 and then adopted by us. When we brought Elli home, her confidence was low. I have raised her like my child since. Elli is an inseparable member of our family. My husband and I take care of her and she has never been problematic. The behaviour of your pet depends on their upbringing. If someone trains them to be aggressive, then obviously the animal will react in an aggressive manner to everything. If we teach it to be social, then it learns to be friends with everyone. If the civic body does not roll back its decision then we will be forced to move an appropriate court of law,” Priyan Singh, who took part in Tuesday’s protests outside the Panchkula MC office with her husband, Karnail Singh, said. The couple stay in Sector 20, Panchkula.
A second protester at the spot, Dr Ruchir Kalra, who is dentist by profession, said that he had gifted Mischief — a male Pitbull — to his wife, Dr Prathna Negi Kalra, at their wedding in 2020. “Mischief is like our child. I do not know what inspired Panchkula municipality to take such a harsh decision. They claim that their their decision was inspired by the Kanpur civic body. But in Kanpur only unauthorized breeding was banned. People have spread multiple rumours about these breeds,” he said.
Colonel Rajesh, a resident of Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Panchkula, said, “The municipal corporation’s decision does not hold ground under Indian laws. I have a Rottweiler at my home in Mansa Devi Complex . There is no question of giving up our dog. We have already had a discussion on the issue with Mayor Kulbhushan Yadav.”
Contacted, Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said, “We took the decision of banning these two breeds after much consideration. In Panchkula, we have 410 registered pet dogs. Among these, there are eight Pitbulls and a dozen Rottweilers. So, we believe most of these dogs are unregistered. It has been scientifically proven that these two breeds are aggressive and pose a threat to human life. I have asked owners to get their pets registered at the earliest.”
Experts differ
Sonu, a dog trainer and president of Chandigarh Pet Lovers Association, said, “Pitbulls and Rottweilers are two very aggressive breeds. Once they go out of control or aggressive, they pose a threat to human life. I have been asking people to not keep these breeds at their homes. These dogs should be kept at farmhouses.”
Newton Sidhu, who runs a dog breeding and training centre in Mohali, however, criticised the decision. He said, “People have a negative perception about Pitbulls and Rotweillers. It depends on the kind of training and atmosphere that the dog grows up in.”
