HC notice on plea for dog races

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 20

Acting on a plea seeking permission for greyhound dog races in Punjab, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Animal Welfare Board of India and the state Animal Husbandry Department.

The notice came on a petition filed by Greyhound Racing Board through its representative Bhupinder Singh Grewal. The board has challenged a decision taken by the Animal Husbandry Department in November 2013, vide which permission from the Deputy Commissioner or the Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) was made compulsory before organising dog races.

The petitioner claimed that dog races organised in the rural areas of the state were helpful in the integration of the rural population and in bridging social gaps and differences.