Ever since the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was passed and enacted by the Government in 1960, the law has benefitted many animals from getting exploited at the hands of the breeders who would adopt unethical practices for breeding and adoption. But the Dog Breeding and Marketing and Pet Shop Rule under this Act has put the jobs of many dog breeders and pet shop owners at risk and most of them have shut shop or switch to some other profession.
Opposing the provisions of the Act, the Pet Lovers Association members have united to protest at the Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on Sunday. The president of the Association, Ashok Pratap Rai tells you that the new rule is creating unemployment which is impacting hundreds of families.
“The draft of the rule came out on December 6, 2016. We had lodged our objections to several sections of this Act. But the Government dismissed our concerns and the rule was then passed by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) and the Animal Welfare Board of India. We welcome all the regulations that are in favour of the animals but the new rule which laid down certain criteria for the pet shop owners, breeders and even the pet owners are a cause of discomfort for everyone,” Rai says.
The criteria laid down by the new rule includes that if someone wants to adopt or own a dog, the prescribed area of living for the dog should be four times its length and two times its breadth. So, if someone wants to adopt a Great Dane, which is a larger breed, he should have 256 sq feet area. This, the members of the association feel, is an impractical rule.
“The prescribed area is unreasonable in a space crunched country like ours where even the apartment in major cities don’t have such huge rooms. Moreover, the other point that the rule highlights is that it is mandatory for the pet shop owners to take the animals for a monthly visit to the vet. This rule makes it difficult for the owners to get their profit since a one-time visit to the vet will cost no less than Rs 500 for consultation and diagnosis. If they will spend this amount on the animals then either they will have to sell the animals at a higher cost or suffer a loss. This is unreasonable, especially if the pet is healthy," he says.
Ajay Pratap Singh, General Secretary, Pet Lovers Association opines that the rules are anti-human and irrational. “If there will be such harsh rules on importing animals — that you have to go through a year-long process to get approval from various officials to even the smallest of birds — then it will be very difficult for everyone to continue in this trade, The animal industry will be affected by such rules because there is a chain. It is not only related to animal breeding and marketing but other industries are also connected to it directly or indirectly be it the dog food industry or the dairy products industry,” he explains.
“These rules are irrational, impractical and many sections of the law lacks clarity. Such rules will only increase the unemployment in the country as there are so many people that eke a living based on this industry. If any person fails to get his registration due to his economic constraints then it cannot be termed as cruelty to animals, there should be proper clarity on all these issues,” he says.
Talking about the rule that includes laws on dog breeding and marketing, Singh says: “One section in the law involves that pet owners can’t have a fertile dog as it will produce offspring and you will be considered as a dog breeder. So either you neuter the dog or go through a registration process as a dog breeder. The rule also states that if you are a dog breeder then you are only allowed to have five litters of a dog and not more. These rules don’t really contribute towards prevention of cruelty to animals but somehow encourages it as the breeders will leave their dog to die after it has produced five litters.”
“While the rule was being drafted, the Government did not involve the breeders, traders and pet shop owners in it. There was no effort from the Government to ask representation from all of us and so it has resulted in laws that are impossible to implement,” Singh says.
Rai feels that these rules are a cruelty to animals. Cruelty is not when you can’t have a two rooms shop for the pets, one room for the healthy ones and the other for the sick. “Cruelty is when someone causes pain or harms the animal, not when we can’t afford a two-room shop for the pets. If a puppy falls sick, it needs to be taken to a hospital and not to put the pup in a separate room because the disease will then affect the healthy pups as well. These rules are deeply flawed,” he says.