Pet registration plan goes to the dogs, MC in dark on total count

Ludhiana: Even after two-and-a-half years since the Ludhiana municipal corporation made pet registration mandatory, very few pet owners have come forward to comply with the directions.
In the past three years, only 2,536 pet dogs have been registered in the city.
The civic body does not even have an estimate about the number of pets in Ludhiana.
Initially, this drive had gained momentum with people coming for pet registration in large numbers. But now, lesser applications are coming for the same. The officials said they would initiate action in next few days against those who have not got their pets registered with the civic body.
Records show that in the first year (June 25, 2020 till March 31, 2021), the MC had received a total 2,065 applications for pet registration. Only 131 applications were received next year from April 1, 2021 till March 31, 2022. And this year (from April 1 till now), only 471 applications have been received.
Requesting anonymity, an MC official claimed that there is no staff in the branch and above all there is no enforcement cell in the veterinary branch that can conduct sudden checking at the houses of public for ensuring pet registration. He said they have requested to provide more staff on many occasions, but requests have fallen on deaf ears. Notably, there is only a single doctor handling the veterinary branch of the civic body.
Meanwhile, Sunil Narula from Animal Protection Welfare Society said, “The civic body did not take this project seriously. We fight for stray dogs most of the time, but pets also face cruel treatment. When dogs get old, many owners abandon them. If there is a proper registration system and some kind of identification is given to registered dogs, it would become easier to catch hold of owners. And in case pet dogs attack stray dogs or children in the society, then owners will become more responsible in handling the situation.” He said the civic body needs to bring some strict rules for owners who keep pets at their homes.
MC additional commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said, “We will be fixing a deadline for the pet registration for next year. And if people still don’t come forward, we will start a challaning drive.”
Plans failed miserably
As soon as pet registration was introduced by the civic body, the officials had started to charge annual fee from private pet clinics in the city as licence fee. They had claimed to charge at least Rs 500 per month from the pet clinics after getting required permissions. Then it was announced that for dog shows, the organisers will have to get permission from the MC. Pet shops will also come for a registration process, but no plans has been materialised.