CBC to ‘destroy’ unregistered Karachi pet dogs

Residents of Karachi’s Clifton won’t be allowed to keep pet dogs without getting them registered with the area’s cantonment board.

It is mandatory for people keeping pet dogs in their houses to register the animals with the Clifton Cantonment Board as per Section 119 of the Cantonment Act, 1924, a notification issued Thursday stated.

Here’s what the law states:

• Registered dogs to wear collars which have to be attached to a metal token issued by the board.
• Unregistered dogs found in public spaces will be detained at a separate place.
• These dogs will be liable to be “destroyed” or “disposed of” unless they are claimed and a fee is paid.
• The fee has to be paid within a week.
• If the animal is killed, the board wouldn’t be responsible for any payments of the damage.
• The owner of the dog has to chain/restrain it or pay a fine of Rs100.
• Rs200 fine for people owning sets on or urges any dog or other animals to attack, worry or intimidate any person.
• The notification added that the non-registration of dogs makes it impossible for the board to determine whether the dog has been muzzled and is disease-free.
  

In the case of failure, the CBC shall take all necessary actions as per section 119 of the Cantonments Act, 1924 which includes detention or destruction of dogs, imposition of fines, legal action and remedies under the prevailing laws etc.

The decision was taken after two pet dogs in Defence’s Khayaban-e-Sehar attacked a lawyer earlier this week. Mirza Akhter was out on his morning walk when the animals charged on him and bit his hand.

A case under sections 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal), 337 (causing hurts on the head or face of a person), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered.

The complaint was then taken to a sessions court where Akhter’s lawyer demanded that the dog owner’s passport be seized and his name be placed on the Exit Control List. The hearing was adjourned as the suspect failed to appear before the court.

Stray dogs face CBC wrath

Two days after the dog attack, people complained that dozens of stray dogs were brutally shot dead in the locality.

Many posted on social media that over 15 dogs in Garden were poisoned by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

“Over a dozen dogs found dead in the gali (lane) next to our house. They did not need to do it. The residents had never complained against the dogs. We were feeding them, playing with them. Nobody had any problem,” a woman living in the area posted on Facebook.

A resident of Clifton, on the other hand, complained that her neighbours want stray dogs in the area to be killed after the recent dog attack.

Animal rights activists have been advocating against the culling of stray dogs. They say killing dogs is not the solution.

In an earlier interview, Rabies Free Pakistan’s Dr Wajiha Javed said no matter how many dogs you kill it will not affect their population. Rather, it will force them to reproduce quickly.