Gurugram studying Ghaziabad model to roll out new pet bylaws

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, November 16

Although the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is yet to receive a copy of the consumer forum’s order banning 11 dog breeds as pets, the civic body has started working on rolling out new pet bylaws. The MCG is reportedly studying the model adopted by the Ghaziabad civic body.

The consumer forum didn’t only ban the 11 dog breeds but also issued directives regarding management of other breeds as pets. The MCG said it would study the feasibility and practicality of all the orders and then go ahead with alteration and formation of new pet bylaws.

“We are yet to receive the orders. We will study their legality as well as practicality and then work out the ways to execute these. We have already mandated registration of pets and are examining the model adopted by Ghaziabad to work out the instructed ban and management of pets,” Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijay Pal Yadav said.

The Ghaziabad administration in October imposed a ban on breeds such as Pitbull, Rottweiler and Dogo Argentino. Besides, no family can keep more than one pet dog. The pet owners will also require permits for pet dogs, which are being issued from November 1. The pet owners will also require to get their dog registered within two months. Also, pet owners in high-rise buildings will have to use service lifts for taking their pets for walk.

The MCG had also started regsitration of pet dogs. But only 100 pets have been registered till now but as per NGOs there are around 3,000 to 5,000 pets in the city. After recent incidents of dog bites, the MCG had tied up with resident welfare associations for the registration of pet dogs. The residents can now get their pets registered in their societies and sectors. As a result, the MCG is receiving 20 to 30 applications on daily basis. However, no separate list or database has been created for people with foreign ferocious breeds that have identified by the forum.

Similarly, the court has ordered to take all stray dogs within its limits into custody with immediate effect and keep them in dog ponds or at a place maintained by the MCG near Basai village with the help of NGOs.

MCG till date has no designated pound. The consumer forum has banned 11 breeds such as American Pitbull Terriers, Dogo Argentino, Rottweiller, Neapolitan Mastiff etc in Gurugram.

No action against breeders

• Gurugram, along with South Delhi, is the biggest market of ‘vanity’ foreign dogs with many breeding centres being run in Chattarpur, Sohna, Manesar and Nuh farmhouses
• Although norms and orders have been formed for pet owners, no such conditions exist for the breeders
• The consumer forum order remains silent on breeders and even the MCG’s existing bylaws don’t have many regulations for them
• Many breeders are running their centres in residential areas in the garb of pet hostels. They have online sale groups where such vanity breeds are sold across the NCR
• Several RWAs have demanded a ban on breeding and sale of foreign breed dogs to curtail the menace