Gurugram Dog Owners Seek Cheaper Registration Fee, Easy Process for Pet Parents

'Can a street vendor who has fostered a stray dog be expected to give Rs 12,000 per year as registration fee?'

Amid the outrage over advisories issued for pet dog owners in Gurugram by its municipal body, a group of pet parents on Tuesday, 13 December met officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to lay out their issues and demand that the registration process be made easier. 

A pet parent who was present at the meeting with GMC, told The Quint that citizens have demanded that the registration fee be reduced from Rs 12,000 per year to Rs 500 or even lesser.

The move comes after the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, on 7 December issued a notice to the municipal corporation, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), pet-owners and other stakeholders stating, "any kind of adverse action against the feeders of dogs, or to relocate or resort to poisoning of dogs or other atrocities are against the law of the land."

What did the animal welfare board say?

Noting that "atrocities against the dogs, feeders of dogs and care givers and conflicts among urban residents are increasing day by the day," AWBI asked the stakeholders to follow the slew of advisories that have been issued in the past. It said:

1. No amount of pressure should lead to the abandonment of a pet animal; doing so is a violation of law.

2. Pet owners are advised to clean up after their pets defecate in public.

3. RWAs cannot legally introduce any sort of ban on keeping pets.They cannot insist that large-sized dogs are not acceptable, and small-sized dogs are.

4. RWAs cannot frame bye-laws that are not in consonance with the law of the country.

5. The RWA cannot deny feeding dogs or creation of feeding spots in those areas where these dogs are residing.

6. The animal feeders/ care givers are feeding these animals from their own resources and out of compassion. The Constitution of India has allowed citizens to do so under 51 A (g).

7. Stray dogs cannot be driven away or beaten, they can only be sterilised and rehabilitated in their original habitat.

“In fact, in trying to ban pets or limit their number, RWAs interfere with the citizens’ fundamental right of freedom to choose the life they wish to live. If an RWA succeeds into intimidating a pet owner into abandoning their pet, it will actually have abetted violation of law," an AWBA circular dated 26 February 2015, and reiterated in the current circular, read.

Any attempts to interfere with or harass people who feed stray dogs may tantamount to the grave offence of criminal intimidation, it added.

What had the pet parents up in arms? A public notice issued by the MCG on 7 December to all pet parents in Gurugram had caused an outrage amongst the citizens, who had also started a protest march at Leisure Valley in Sector 29, Gurugram on Sunday, 11 December. This is what the public order stated:

• Registration of all pets is mandatory.

• All pet dogs must wear collars with a “metal token”; any dog not wearing one would be taken into custody and detained at a designated shelter, for which the owner will have to pay a fee.

• If no person claims the dog or pays the detention fee within a week, the dog would be 'disposed of' or 'destroyed'.

What have the citizens now demanded? Pet parents and citizens on 13 December met with senior sanitary inspector Rishi Mallik, and submitted a slew of recommendations to smoothen the process of registration of pets.

Manisha Baweja, who was present at the meeting, said that the citizens have suggested setting up a committee to liaise between the RWAs and the pet parents so that the issues can be dealt with peacefully and solutions can be brought about promptly. These are some other demands of pet parents:

1. The registration process be made easier, and that pet owners be given at least six to eight months to register their pet dogs.

2. The registration fee be reduced to nominal. "A street vendor who has fostered a stray cannot be expected to give Rs 12,000, followed by Rs 9,000 per year," Manisha remarked, adding that the GMC is likely to reduce the fee to Rs 500.

3. That backyard breeders, and breeding of illegal foreign breeds be checked, instead of issuing a ban on foreign breeds.

4. That the 'one family one dog policy' be taken back with immediate effect

5. That the fine towards hitting stray dogs be increased from the current Rs 50.

6. That caregivers to stray dogs be allowed to register for free, and that the GMC step in to vaccinate and sterilise such dogs.

Why are the pet parents worried? Pet parents are worried that their dogs, if not registered timely, will be picked up by the municipal body. "We have received umpteen calls from pet parents across Gurugram, worried sick about the new directive," Nikhil Mahesh, Founder of Umeed for Animals Foundation told The Quint.

“How can they ‘destroy’ our pet? It’s not an object. The authorities themselves are not sure about how to get our pet dogs registered, how can we expect them to facilitate us through the process? But to threaten us that our dog will be picked up is unlawful,”

Pet Parent From Gurugram

Manisha Baweja, who has fostered four dogs, asked how will she produce the documents for two of her pets whom she had rescued from the streets. “In such a situation, can the authorities take away my pets? Isn’t that unconstitutional?" 

“Besides, how can they dictate how many pets a person choses to foster? If that rule were to apply, how do I pick which ones I choose to keep and which ones I choose to let go?” Manisha remarked on the ‘one family one dog’ order passed by a consumer forum. 

Hadn’t the Punjab and Haryana High Court intervened on this? The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on 30 November stayed the order passed by the District Consumer Disputes Rederessal System which had stated that one family keeps only one dog and asked for the removal of all stray dogs from the city.

These are some of the clauses that the consumer forum had passed on 15 November:

1. It directed the GMC to cancel the licenses of dog parents who own the eleven dog breeds mentioned the the Central Government’s order dated 25 April 2016. These include: 

1. American Pit-bull Terriers

2. Dogo Argentino

3. Rottweiler,

4. Neapolitan Mastiff

5. Boerboel

6. Presa Canario

7. Wolf Dog

8. Bandog

9. American Bulldog

10. Fila Brasileiro

11. Canc Corso

2. It directed the municipal body to mandate the registration of pet dogs w.e.f 15.11 2022 within one month. The fee for this will be  Rs 12,000/- per year, and the renewal fee every year will be Rs 9,000. 

3. That one family will keep only one dog, and, that, whenever, the registered dog is taken to public places, its mouth shall be properly covered with a net cap or otherwise, so that it may not bite anyone.

4. Besides, at that time, the owner of said registered pet dog will also take with him dog shit bag and dog shit plucker in order to maintain proper hygiene and proper cleanliness at public places. 

5. Whoever is found violating the aforesaid provisions, their dog shall be immediately taken into custody by the MCG. In addition, the violator would have to pay a fine which shall not be less than Rs 20,000 and which may extend to Rs 2 lakh.

6. In case of dog bite cases, the minimum compensation shall not be less than Rs 20,000, and which may extend up to Rs 2 lakh, depending upon the nature, gravity and seriousness of the injuries suffered by the dog bite victim.

Citing data that 77 lakh dog bite cases are reported throughout India daily resulting in 20,000 deaths per year, the high court had asked the MCG to formulate bye-laws and issue a public warning to ensure that pet-owners abide by it.

The court, citing reports from the internet, noted that nearly 40 percent of such cases relate to children, "which is definitely an alarming situation and needs to be properly redressed."