A man walks his dog in Chandigarh. (Express)

THE CHANDIGARH Municipal Corporation sought an opinion from Joint Director, UT Animal Husbandry Department, Dr Kanwarjit Singh, over whether or not should the city people be allowed to keep ‘ferocious’ breeds of dogs as pets.

The move comes in view of recent incidents of dog bites involving breeds like Pitbull, Rottweiler etc in Chandigarh.

The letter was sent from the office of Medical Officer of Health, Dr Amrit Pal Singh.

“Since after an untied Pitbull went wild in a residential locality and bit at least five people in Sector 30, numerous complaints and suggestions have been received, demanding a ban on the registration of dogs of specific breeds, considered to be aggressive, in Chandigarh. In fact, one of the victims, Renu, also filed a complaint with the MC demanding a ban on Pitbull breed in Chandigarh. Till now, there are no such guidelines in the city or the country, which ban the registration of any breed of dog,” said sources.

According to police records, as many as six cases of dog bites have been reported in the last year and a half in Chandigarh. In all of these cases, pet owners were arrested. In the connection with the Sector 30 dog bite, a fine of Rs 500 was imposed on the dog owner for not covering the dog’s mouth with a cap. The pitbull was registered with the civic body.

“I am yet to see the letter seeking our opinion. Aggressiveness is the nature of maximum breeds of dogs. And in my knowledge, there is no such provision in the dogs’ bye-laws nationwide, which prohibit the registration of any particular breed in India. But still, we can suggest some precautions about not keeping aggressive dogs including Pitbull Rottweiler, German Shepherd etc in residential localities. These breeds might only be allowed in big farm houses, always be tied and their faces always be covered with net-caps etc,” said Dr Kanwarjit Singh.

“We always discourage people from purchasing ferocious breeds of dogs for their homes in Chandigarh. Ideally, there should be a ban on these breeds. It is always dangerous to keep these dogs in houses for house residents as well as outsiders,” said Vinod Kumar Sonu, a dog trainer.

So far, around 8,000 pet dogs have registered with MC, Chandigarh. The MC has specific record of all the breeds of these dogs.

Only 21 challans issued for violating bye-laws

Merely 21 challans were issued for violating the Pet Dogs Registration Bye-Laws-2010 in Chandigarh in the last seven months, while only one challan was slapped against one pet owner for allowing their pet to defecate in the open.

“There are always lesser challans for the violation of dog registration bye-laws because people take out their pets in early morning hours. We have also a shortage of manpower. But with the new notification of Pet Dogs Registration Bye-Laws-2020 published in the gazzette, we will start an aggressive challan drive,” said SI (Sanitation) Jagjeet Singh.