Chandigarh taxes man's best friend

Dogs are considered man's best friend. But try to keep your friends' circle to two, for authorities here have imposed a tax on the third dog you may keep.

Also make your pets behave, for you are going to be fined if your dog bites anyone or makes a mess in public.

The administration approved and notified the new 'Dogs by-laws' last week according to which one cannot keep more than two dogs at home in Chandigarh. In case you want to, you have to pay to the municipal corporation a 'dog tax' of Rs.1,000 per dog every year .

It is also mandatory for the dog owners to register each pet at the dog cell, when the dog is four months old. Two photographs of the dog have to be pasted on the form with the details of its age, colour, breed and vaccination record. The cost of registration is Rs.200-500.

The corporation will issue a metal chip in return and the owner has to tie the chip to the collar band of the dog.

G. Diwan, medical officer health (MOH) of the corporation, told IANS: "We have made these laws to make things more streamlined and to curb the menace of dogs in Chandigarh. We have got the approval from the department concerned and these by-laws have been notified by the administration.

"We had been working on these by-laws for a long time and we had kept in mind various parameters while drafting them."

According to the new by-laws, if a dog bites anybody, its owner has to pay appropriate compensation to the victim. The owner also has to ensure that his dog does not destroy property and does not defecate at public places or in open grounds.

The owner has to provide sufficient space, good food and medical facilities to the dog. Violation of any rule means a Rs.500-1,000 fine.

These rules have evoked a mixed response from residents.

"We are sensible enough to get our dogs vaccinated properly at the right time. So what is the use of getting it registered with the administration? It will only increase the work of already burdened government offices of the city," said Sanjeev Sharma, a local businessman, who owns three dogs and two cats.

"I also believe that it would also lead to more corruption, as many unscrupulous elements will take it as an opportunity to make extra money by unnecessarily harassing dog owners," Sharma said.

Smridhi Bhalla, another dog lover, told IANS: "The decision to limit the number of domestic dogs to two is beyond our understanding. It is quite strange that instead of keeping a tab on stray dogs, they are more worried about pet dogs that are not harming anybody."

However, Jayant Sharma, president of a residents' welfare association in Chandigarh, told IANS: "Domestic dogs have emerged as a big threat for morning and evening walkers as most of the times they are more dangerous than stray dogs. We are happy with these new by-laws and now want our administration to implement them strictly."

Rohit Ruhella, an environmentalist based here, said: "People consider dogs their status symbol and even take them to various gardens and the Sukhna lake. They do not bother when these animals destroy the beauty of these places."

According to the records of the animal husbandry department, in 2007 there were 13,425 dogs in the city, including 7,712 domestic dogs and 5,713 strays. Of them, 9,034 were male and 4,391 female.

(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at alkesh.s@ians.in)

Last updated on Jul 21^st, 2009 at 09:43 am IST--IANS