Only 98 dog owners have registered their pet with NMC

Nagpur: There are an estimated 20,000 pet dogs in the city but only 98 dog owners have obtained a licence from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to keep a pet at home in the current fiscal. NMC says it is mandatory for owners to get a licence every year to keep a pet at home, but very few citizens follow the rule.
The licence was made mandatory some years ago after several complaints of overcrowding, abuse of pets, and some cases of conflict between owners and their neighbours over the pets.
The response from pet owners to obtaining a licence from NMC was always bleak. Only in 2013, when NMC started a drive through an NGO, the number of pet dog licences rose to the highest 642. Else, it has never crossed even the 200 mark, said sources.
NMC officials from the veterinary department said that the number of pet dogs may be highest in prime localities of west and south west Nagpur such as Dharampeth, Civil Lines, Friends Colony, Laxmi Nagar and residential localities in Nandanwan, Itwari, Shanti Nagar and Sakkardara.
NMC is all set to launch a drive to penalise owners who have failed to register their pets with NMC. Registration also ensures that the dog is vaccinated, sources said. An NMC official said the civic body does not provide any special provision for registered dogs, it is just proof that the dog is vaccinated.
Many pet owners TOI spoke to claimed that they were not aware of the need to obtain such a licence to keep pet animals. Abhijeet Singh, who has owned a Labrador for the last three years, said he had no clue about such a mandatory procedure for keeping a pet. “Had I been aware of this, I would have applied for the same,” he said.
Another pet owner (who did not wish to be named) said that he was aware of the rule. “But I did not obtain the licence as it is being given from NMC’s head office in Civil Lines which is almost 10km from my place,” he said and demanded that NMC should decentralise the system.
Many also demanded that NMC should allow online registration of pet dogs, and also at pet shops, which would definitely increase the number of licenced pets.
The officials, however, said most pet owners fail to get no-objection certificates from their neighbours and hence they do not apply for a licence to keep pets.