Bengaluru’s dog lovers are up in arms as the city’s municipal corporation suddenly announced that they will restrict households to just a single dog as well as a list of ‘approved’ breeds. Dog lovers have called the move draconian and call the list of approved breeds eerily similar to that of Singapore. We agree with the dog lovers that other than some ‘dangerous’ breeds only breeds that are clearly inappropriate for Indian climatic conditions such as St.Bernards and Huskies should be disallowed, but only after some semblance of a scientific study.
Instead of cracking down and mandating how many dogs and which type of dogs a family may or may not own, they should act more strongly against stray dogs by neutering them and additionally go after people who do clean up behind their dogs. The recent spate of dog attacks on humans across India has nerves on edge and the public at large, which outnumbers dog-lovers are insisting something be done. The BBMP in Bengaluru has gone to one extreme and their order should be reconsidered. That said, it is likely that other municipalities in India will follow suit soon. Dog lovers instead of fighting have to realise that there is a problem with strays and even pet dogs in some localities and they must be part of the solution instead of insisting that there is no problem.