While animal activists blame breeders for illegal breeding of pedigreed dogs to make money, breeders complain that the NGOs, after seizing the dogs in raids, issue fake death certificates of the seized dogs and resell them in the market. Experts tell Sangeeta Yadav what’s needed is that the pets industry be organised urgently
At the age of 25, Kunal Yadav decided to make his love for dogs a profession. Despite being mocked by his family and friends about him making a career in the canine industry, his dream started shaping when he started dealing in pure labradors and Beagles in India, preparing them as champion dogs and even supplying them to the Army.
Unfortunately, not all those working in this industry is in the business because they love animals. Most are there for the money. Hence, there are many breeders who are operating unethically in a sector that is completely unorganised.
“When we raid the kennels, we find the pets, mostly dogs in very miserable conditions. They are kept in an unhygienic environment because of which they get infections, fleas, ticks and maggots. After the litter, the mother is again bred within three weeks, not giving her enough time to recover. Most breeders operate from their home roofs. This allows very little space for the pets to roam.
“Some breeders who don't have access to a roof, keep the animal in small, dark and dingy rooms. They are set free twice daily so that they can relieve themselves which is usually in the verandah that stinks. When the female dogs grow old and are not able to have any more litters, the breeders throw them out on the roads or they are given to dog shelters where they die a miserable death,” Shilpa K Bhargav from People For Animals, tells you.
The breeders though have a different story to tell. Jay Prakash, in Noida, asks you that if they are not going to put the dogs in cages, how will they manage themIJ “It is not that we cage the dog 24x7. The NGOs say that if you cage the dogs, it is cruelty. But if they are not caged they end up fighting. One of our dogs was run over while chasing another dog. We have to also look at a dog’s health. Our cages are big and we give enough space for the dog to move around. We feed them expensive pedigree food and have a separate area for breeding and toilet zone. The maintenance of a single dog is huge and includes grooming, feeding and pet care products,” Prakash adds.
While many litters are bought by pet lovers and they end up in loving home, there are many who are sold for clinical trials. “The Beagle is very popular when it comes to experimentation as they are easy to control and don't bark. When we raided one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in India, we seized 40-45 adult Beagles. Their condition was pathetic — they had never been out in the sun, they shivered at that slightest of sound as if they had been abused or were very unwell,” Bhargav reveals.
There is a grey area between the breeder and the animal activist and/or the NGOs that need to be worked upon. “Breeders blame the NGOs and the NGOs blame the breeders and the Government. The entire system is in a mess. There is a conflict between animal welfare activists and the breeders because of lack of communication. Breeders don’t have enough knowledge on how to operate a kennel. The NGOs take this as an opportunity to make money. Breeders must be given proper guidelines and consultancy about the legality, scientific breeding, feeding management and good rearing practice so that the animals don’t suffer. Also, not to cheat the customers by selling them a mix breed instead of a pure breed which has become rampant,” Dr TP Sethumadhavan, director of Entrepreneurship, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, points out.
What comes as a shocker is that the penalty on the illegal breeders and other people for committing cruelty on animals is only `50. Pet lover Manisha Bhargava has also filed a petition on change.org seeking support in revamping the PCA Act.
“The 1960 PCA Act needs to be revamped and the penalty increased. The penalty is only `50 which was in the 60s like ` 5000. We need the Act revamped and encourage people to file an FIR against the offender so that strict action can be taken," Bhargav says.
It is not just the breeders but some pet owners, too, are cruel to animals. “Raising a mountain dog in the summers of Delhi without AC is cruelty. Pet owners who consider keeping an exotic breed as a social status and don’t provide the necessary upkeep for that breed and are, thus, being cruel to that animal. There are ethics and practices which say that the female dog can only be bred once or twice a year depending, upon her health and diet. But some breeders over-breed their dogs to mint money and neglect the health of the female dog because of which the survival of mother and her litters reduces. Moreover, neutering or spaying by the NGOs is gruesome. Dogs do have the right to reproduce and if they don’t breed, they develop health issues which might not show but they go through hormonal issues and various health ailments. All this comes under cruelty to animals,” Viren Sharma, a dog behaviourist and founder of Mad Over Dogs, tells you.
Agrees Yadav. “I love dogs, they are like my babies. When my pure female labrador gave birth to six litters, I had a hard time finding a suitable home. One of my friends suggested that I start a kennel. I registered myself at the Kennel Club of India, one of the autonomous bodies for registration of breeders and dogs in Chennai, and bought a pure breed black Pug, labrador and a Beagle from an authorised dealer. Each litter that I would get from them would be sold for `15,000 but a lot depends on the breed and market price,” Yadav says.
But his life turned upside down when a raid was conducted by a renowned NGO. “In 2016, a group of people from an NGO along with the local police officials, barged into my house in Noida. They charged me with cruelty to animals as they were kept in a cage. They seized all my puppies and dogs despite me telling them that I was a registered breeder. When I went to them with the court order to release the pets, I was handed death certificates of the pets, saying since they were kept in such poor condition that all the dogs had died. I was shell-shocked and heartbroken. I questioned them as it was not possible that all my 18 dogs and their puppies would die. Two of them were champion dogs who won many awards in dog shows. I demanded that the bodies be handed over to me but they said that they had buried them and were not allowed to reveal where. I protested along with other breeders but nothing happened. The pain to lose my babies was much more than bankruptcy,” Yadav who has left the profession after that incident, says.
Did they really die naturally, were forcefully put to sleep or soldIJ Mahendra Aswal, a dog trainer and owner of a champion dog Poodle, reveals that there is a huge racket among NGOs who raid and seize pets, merely to make money on the sly themselves. “First, they don’t show us any court orders to raid. Second, when we get the court’s permission to release our pets, they declare that our dogs are dead.
“There is talk that the dogs are either resold, passed on to other big breeders who sell them. Some are even gifted to friends or relatives. This is pretty regular. There is nobody to check their activities and it is our loss. We want the sector to become organised, the Government to implement new rules and tell us how to go about in this profession instead of taking away everything. We are willing to pay taxes and even seek a loan from the Government to set-up a proper kennel,” Aswal tells you.
Bhargav disagrees that the raids are out of guidelines. “We always raid with a police officer otherwise we would get booked for trespassing. We go to the district police station and explain to them that there is an illegal dog breeding racket going on. We want you to come with us. We never give police officers the exact address as they breeders might be alerted about the raid,” Bhargav says, adding that daily, they get 15-20 calls regarding an act of cruelty. “Such people need to be behind bars,” he adds.
To make the canine industry an organised sector, new rules were put in place under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act which issued guidelines for the registered breeders to maintain records of all animals and sale of dogs.
“Before the amendment of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules 2017, there were only 50-60 breeders registered under the AWBI and people would go to Chennai for this. When the new rule was notified in May 2017, the power of AWBI was delegated to the State Government which mandated every dog breeder to be registered with the State Animal Welfare Board (SAWB). The Delhi Board of SAWB is headed by the Chief Secretary that has an Executive Committee headed by the Development Commissioner of Delhi, Manisha Saxena. After a due process of inspection is completed and the Board is satisfied, the certificate of registration is granted. But it has been observed that none of the breeders in Delhi has any kind of registration leading to increased illegal breeding of dogs.
“The new amendment came up with the guidelines for breeders to operate ethically by registering themselves, coming into the ambit of the taxation and also following the record of breeding and sale of dogs,” Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee, People for Animals, says.
After the amendments, many kennels and pet shops in the Capital were sent notices and shut down. Several websites, mobile apps and pet shops which were used by illegal breeders to roll out advertisements for selling puppies were sent a notice to pull it down.
“Because of this new law, 60 per cent of the breeders operating without a licence have left the industry as websites were the main platform for them to get the dogs sold directly to the customer,” Yadav says.
Maulekhi points out that the SAWB, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Delhi, Animal Welfare Organisation and other agencies, should stop the unnecessary proliferation of dogs. But so far, SAWB has not taken any action.
“The NGOs are only a scratch of the surface. Government and law enforcement will have to take notice of the entire malaise and curb the issue. On the one hand, the Government of Delhi is spending money to neuter the dogs.
“On the other hand, the SAWB is allowing unregulated and unchecked breeding which is absurd. It is the wastage of public money and jeopardises the interest of people buying those animals,” Maulekhi opines.
Dr RT Sharma, secretary, National Veterinary Foundation, Delhi, says that the law enforcement agency along with other stakeholders must sensitise the breeders about the ethical ways of breeding as it is a scientific process and requires a specialised skillset.
“Nowadays, anyone and everyone, be it a pet lover or not, all want a piece of the dog breeding pie since as it is the quickest and most lucrative business option. Most breeders are poor, not well educated and have zero knowledge about scientific breeding. Since the law is not implemented effectively, both breeders and the NGOs take advantage of it. In the end, it is the animals and the pet lovers who suffer,” Sharma says.
Guidlines for sale of dogs
n Every breeder shall ensure that the pups less than eight weeks in age are not sold.
n Dogs over six months in age are not sold without first being sterilised, unless they are being sold to another licensed breeder.
n Dogs and pups are not sold for use in experiments, unless the purchaser is a breeder registered with the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals constituted under section 15 of the Act.
n Ensure that only dogs in good health, that have been provided the medical inoculations, are sold.
n Each pup sold is micro-chipped and a complete record of treatment and vaccination is maintained.
n The pups are not displayed in public places for immediate sale and receipts for sales is provided to each purchaser and copy thereof is retained with the micro-chip number of the pup sold with a name, address and phone number of the purchaser.
n The breeder shall furnish to the purchaser in writing, details of feeding, dates of inoculations and de-worming of the pup and the name and address of the veterinary practitioner who was attending on it.
n Every breeder shall screen prospective purchasers to ascertain their potential to take proper care of the breed, especially if it is a large one, to attend to its grooming, socialising, spatial and veterinary needs, and to bear the expense for its upkeep and maintenance.
n No breeder shall sell a dog to a pet shop operating without a licence or for any other activity which is in contravention of any other law.
n The breeder shall keep track of all pups produced and sold and it shall be the responsibility of the breeder to obtain information regarding the progress and state of health of all dogs sold by him, at least once each year.
n Every breeder shall rehabilitate a pup not sold within a period of six months through an Animal Welfare Organisation.
Registered breeding records
n Housed in the establishment, including dogs for breeding and dogs for sale and be kept at the establishment for inspection in form-Ill appended to the First Schedule.
n Individual dogs, both male and female, including the information like breed, name and number or litter number, micro-chip number, sex, colour and markings and date of birth.
n Names and microchip numbers of sire and dam, name of breeder from whom acquired, name and address of person from whom directly acquired and date of acquisition. They should have date and duration of lease, date and place of mating, names of persons handling the mating, name and number of dog, including micro-chip number, with which mated
n Name and address of owner, date of whelping, number of pups whelped, by sex colour and markings and litter registration number if any;
n Date of sale, death or rehabilitation of each pup so described; name and address of purchaser; cause of death as determined by a veterinary doctor and post mortem report of each dog that dies in the establishment; and any other information that is deemed relevant by the Board or the State Board.
n Use clear and concise contracts to document sales, lease arrangements, spaying or neutering
n Health and medical records along with separate vaccination record of each dog, whether male or female, and of every pup in every litter and a copy of the records of any dog or pup that is sold shall be provided to the purchaser.
n All records maintained by the breeder shall be kept at least for a period of eight years, unless the State Board directs in writing that the records be maintained for a longer period for the purpose of investigation.