The Noida Authority has come out with a mandatory pet registeration policy. This they have done in an effort to enhance the wellbeing.of the pet owners. The registration was launched in September 2021 but the response was lukewarm. Only 156 pets got registered. So in order to increase registration they have come out with the following initiatives:
1 Annual registration fee of Rs 500. The registration shall done on an App.
2 Organize camps for the registration of pets in the residential areas.
3 The apartment owners’ associations (AOAs) have to make a list of pet owners in their respective housing complexes to facilitate the registration.
4 Residents may also use this application to register reports of pet litter in public locations or cause disruptions.
How will the registration bring well being to the pet owner and his dog? Let's see
1 Not all can afford registration fee that too to be paid every year. Hence, This will only increase abandonment of pet dogs especially those who are sick and old.
2 Already pet keeping in India is very low. The number of dogs haters are more in number. Seeking complains of pet litter in public locations and disruptions will further increase conflicts and fights amongst pet owners and non owners. The owners will unnecessarily be harassed.
3 The very thought that one to pay an annual fee of Rs 500 for keeping a pet will discourage people from adopting dogs and cats.
The Noida Authority may have brought this policy to enhance the well being of the pet owner but in reality it is neither benefiting the pet owner nor his dog. This will only lead to more man-man and man-dog conflict. That's what most of the pet owners in Noida feel about this registration policy (Pic in the post).
There is a huge population of stray dogs who are the Indian breed dogs. Pet dogs are often the foreign breed dogs who are bought by their owners. Therefore It is very important that the dogs from the streets be adopted.
The Noida Authority should try to find ways by which it can motivate people to adopt dogs especially the stray dogs. Such registration policies are neither helping the pet dogs nor the stray dogs.
Instead of pet dog registration the Noida Authority could have done dog registration where with the help.of caregivers, pet owners and AOA ( Apartment owners association) they could have got a list of all the dogs in and around their locality. Comprising of stray dogs, semi stray dogs and pet dogs.
They could organize camps to sensitize people about the ABC program and how the AOA with the help of the caregivers could help in catching the dogs and getting them sterilized.
They could Organize vaccination camps for all the dogs for free.
And then after few years once there are enough pet owners the corporation might think of charging registration fee. But at this moment this kind of policy will only create more conflict and fights between the dog owners and the non owners.
It's high time the corporation took measures to reduce man-dog conflict and encourage pet keeping rather than wasting time and resources in futile and unnecessary policies which will only adversely affect dogs and their human parents.
No matter how hard the caregivers and the Animal Welfare NGOs try to make the life of street animals in India better but all their efforts go in vain when the govt especially the municipal corporations bring out wrong and faulty policies. Such policies do more harm than good to the animals of India and eventually work against the caregivers and the animal welfare bodies.
Noida Authority CEO
Twitter @CeoNoida
Noida Authority
Twitter @noida_authority