PUNE: Only 2,700 dog owners in the city have obtained a licence from the Pune Municipal Corporation to keep their pets at home in the last 15 years.
Owners must get a licence every year for keeping a pet at home, but very few have adhered to the rule.
The rules were made mandatory some years ago after several complaints of overcrowding, abuse of pets and some cases of conflict between members of societies over the pets.
"The registration is mandatory. But, the response has been poor despite attempts to persuade pet owners to register. The PMC will take action against citizens who keep pets without proper permissions," Ramchandra Hankare, head of PMC's health department, said.
According to the civic body's data, the dog population in the city at present is around two lakh. Of these, 19,000 are pets and 1.81 lakh are strays.
Civic officials said they will start issuing notices to dog owners who do not have the permits. The civic body charges Rs 500 for the registration for 10 years to start with. Every renewal will cost Rs 50.
Sterilisation of stray dogs to make sure that the population is controlled is taken up periodically by the civic body.
The PMC has also made it mandatory to register cats, but even that has not got an adequate response. Sterilisation of stray cats too has been made mandatory by PMC, but the project is yet to take off as tenders floated got a poor response.
The registration facility is available to pet owners at all 15 ward offices and the health department's main office in the PMC building.
"There is a very little awareness about registration among owners. The registration process should be made easier. The government should have more interaction with private veterinary doctors. Putting up notices about registration in their clinics will help create awareness about the licence and its benefits," Ajay Patel, who runs a pets service, said.
Owners must get a licence every year for keeping a pet at home, but very few have adhered to the rule.
The rules were made mandatory some years ago after several complaints of overcrowding, abuse of pets and some cases of conflict between members of societies over the pets.
"The registration is mandatory. But, the response has been poor despite attempts to persuade pet owners to register. The PMC will take action against citizens who keep pets without proper permissions," Ramchandra Hankare, head of PMC's health department, said.
According to the civic body's data, the dog population in the city at present is around two lakh. Of these, 19,000 are pets and 1.81 lakh are strays.
Civic officials said they will start issuing notices to dog owners who do not have the permits. The civic body charges Rs 500 for the registration for 10 years to start with. Every renewal will cost Rs 50.
Sterilisation of stray dogs to make sure that the population is controlled is taken up periodically by the civic body.
The PMC has also made it mandatory to register cats, but even that has not got an adequate response. Sterilisation of stray cats too has been made mandatory by PMC, but the project is yet to take off as tenders floated got a poor response.
The registration facility is available to pet owners at all 15 ward offices and the health department's main office in the PMC building.
"There is a very little awareness about registration among owners. The registration process should be made easier. The government should have more interaction with private veterinary doctors. Putting up notices about registration in their clinics will help create awareness about the licence and its benefits," Ajay Patel, who runs a pets service, said.
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