Every day a new challenge for the caregivers, pet owners and dogs of India and this time the challenge has been posed by the apathetic Gurgaon Municipal Corporation
In a public notice, the corporation has said to destroy unclaimed dogs.
These are some of the major points in the notice:
1 Registration of pet dogs is mandatory
2 All pet dogs in public places must wear collars with a “metal token” and any dog found not wearing one would be taken into custody and the owner will have to pay a detention fee.
3 If the owner does not claim the dog or pays the detention fee within a week, then the dog would be “disposed of” or “destroyed”.
Does India anymore look like the land of Gandhi, Mahavira and Buddha who preached the philosophy of live and let live?
No law in India talks of killing dogs but the municipal corporation has not only broken the law but also conveyed a sick and anti-dog mind set. Already there is too much hostility for dogs in India and the pet owners and caregivers are looked at with contempt. Just imagine the kind of impact such orders will have on our overall environment. This will only add more hostility and more hatred.
Already the percentage of pet ownership of dogs in India is very low and after such negative orders those who are planning to adopt pets will be discouraged and those who already have may choose to abandon them
Entrusting municipal corporations for the welfare of animals, especially stray dogs was the biggest mistake committed by our policymakers
For them animals are equivalent to furniture which can be easily bought, moulded and discarded
In Bangalore city, the dogs who have been sterilized and who do not bite are being openly relocated by the residents themselves
Why is the situation of dogs and their caregivers so bad?
The fault is in the system and the people who have been running it.
The Animal sector in India never evolved
A law which came into existence in 1960, unfortunately, stayed confined in a few pages
The ABC program stayed a close door affair between the corrupt and apathetic municipal corporation and the Self centred Animal Welfare organizations who just didn’t bother to address the growing animosity against dogs and their caregivers. And needless to say the uncontrolled stray dog population.
The Indian judiciary, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying along with the Animal Welfare Board of India have to remove the weaknesses and loopholes which have plagued this sector for almost 5 decades now
India needs a robust animal sector free from interference from political leaders who use mute animals as agenda to win their elections
