Dogs at a farm in Gurugram in Haryana.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
The registration of pet dogs with civic authorities in the city has hit a hurdle, with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) seeking documents about importers who flew in foreign breeds and the pet owners not being able to furnish them.
Even as pet owners have been protesting the move, the municipal body has been accepting the registration forms but put the issuance of certificates on hold.
Order from 2016
A senior MCG official, requesting anonymity, said the details of the importer were required in case of a foreign breed as per a notification of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry dated April 25, 2016, but none of the pet owners seem to have it.
“We are in consultation with senior officials in the State and Central governments over the matter to seek a possible solution. The primary aim is to get the dogs registered. An announcement will be made soon. Meanwhile, we are accepting registration forms, but not issuing the certificates,” said the official
The municipal body had, in a notice earlier this month, said that all dogs within the jurisdiction of the MCG be registered as required under Section 311 of the Haryana Municipal Act-1994. The notice followed the order of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum last month directing the civic body to ensure the same.
The order had also banned eleven foreign breeds as pets and directed the MCG to take them into custody, besides restricting only one pet per family. The order was later challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which stayed it.
Pet owners protest
The MCG’s registration form seeking documents about foreign breed importer has evoked protests, with pet owners demanding the order’s withdrawal. “The registration of dogs is a welcome step. But when the breeding of dogs is so unregulated in the country, how can the municipal body expect us to provide the documents in the name of the importer? It is absurd,” said Rakesh Yadav, a pet owner.
Rashmi Vaidya, a pet parent of a Scotch and a Golden Retriever, said she was happy to pay the registration charges if the municipal body utilised the same for the welfare of the dogs.
Dr. Sandeep Yadav, veterinary physician and surgeon, SKRD Veterinary Hospital, Sector 31, said the entire exercise for the registration of dogs could turn out to be futile in the absence of a mechanism to fix the identity of the registered pet. “The municipal body’s efforts for registration of dogs are commendable. But the present registration process has no foolproof mechanism to establish the identity of a registered pet,” he said.
