Ghaziabad's Municipal Corporation has come out with a policy which will not only discourage pet keeping but also make many abandon their pets.
In its decision which was made in September last year they made registration of pet dogs compulsory.
The pet owners have to register with the corporation starting from 1st February 2020. The registration may be done online and can be done till March 31st. The registration will be applicable till 31st March 2021 and thereafter the owner has to again renew the registration. The registration fee is Rs. 1000. This is chargeable every year at the time of registration. Failing registration the owner will have to pay a penalty.The corporation employees will soon visit residential complexes to find any defaulters.
Nothing can be more absurd and mindless than this decision of the corporation. In September 2019 the corporation had come out with the proposal to charge Rs. 5000 per dog but then after a lot of opposition and criticism they reduced it to Rs. 1000.
Ghaziabad is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The majority of the people do not own pet dogs and the stray dog population in the area is many times more than the pet dogs.
There are no takers of these dogs and they just roam around malnutrioned and hungry. Caregivers of Ghaziabad have to constantly fight with the dog haters and ignorant people for these dogs. Feeding them is very difficult for the caregivers as people mostly fight with them.
In Manokamna apt, Vasundhara the caregiver Anita has been struggling to get back the two dogs removed from the apartment. Recently a dog was removed just because the bahubalis (powerful) of her colony didn't want him there. According to Anita the dog has been removed by the orders of the municipal corporation.
This is the kind of empathy Ghaziabad municipal corporation has towards stray dogs. They listen to the powerful and the dog haters and harass people like Anita who fight for the rights of the voiceless. The dog is still missing. And it has been told that the dog was taken and dropped somewhere. This is illegal. The driver who dropped the dog has confessed and is now asking Anita to go with him and look for the dog at the location where he dropped him. Anita is too scared to go and get the dog back because she fears the dog haters who got the dog removed will poison him or get the dog removed again. She wants dog's security. Will the corporation vouch for his security? Should Anita go and get the dog back to Manokamna apartment? Shouldn't the Ghaziabad municipal corporation send it's officers to Manokamna apartment and tell the residents that removing dogs from the apartment is an offence even if the dogs bites. That they should learn to cohabit with the dogs in their colony. Shouldn't they take action against the wrongdoers who got the dogs removed?
Dr Anuj a corporation officer asked Anita for the registration number when she called him to enquire about the dog which had been picked up.
Doesn't Dr. Anuj know that stray dogs are community dogs and hence the responsibility lies with the community and not a sole person like Anita. And what was wrong in enquiring about the whereabouts of a community dog if he has been illegally picked up by the corporation?
Ghaziabad municipal corporation please help the caregivers and the stray dogs. You are their custodians.
The government spends crores of rupees on the ABC programme and you have been given the duty to implement it with full sincerety and honesty. Aren't you aware that a sterilized dog cannot be removed from its place? Then why did you let that happen in your area?
Anyhow, now coming to the registration fee, how will charging an annual fee of Rs. 1000 increase pet keeping in Ghaziabad? Except that it will make the corporation rich.
How is this mindless policy encourage Indian dog adoption? Or any kind of dog adoption?
In fact there are people in India who buy the pedigree breed dogs for status and not for love. Hence, abandoning dogs is quite common on the streets of India. After such a policy many pet owners will abandon their pets.
Registration is not a bad move and should definitely be done. The intention of the government should be to maintain dog census. They can have free online registration or charge only a one time nominal fee of Rs500 which the Delhi municipal corporation is already doing.
Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation please put your scarce resources in creating awareness about the ABC programme and dog laws.
Teach the residents of Ghaziabad empathy towards dogs which unfortunately is quite missing in your area.
Your approach and policies should be towards pet keeping that too Indian breed dogs and not discouraging people from having pets.
You are custodians of stray dogs. First find homes for them.
Have some empathy towards this man's best friend and come out with apps and policies which encourage pet keeping and not discourage them .
The main problem in India today is stray dog overpopulation and canine rabies.
Such hopeless and mindless policies will do nothing to solve this problem . Rather it will only aggravate the problem.