Pet Lovers Association (PLA) launched a two-day protest against Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act (Dog Breeding, Marketing and Pet Shops) at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Saturday. Aam Aadmi Party politician Somnath Bharti also joined the protest.
The Association claimed that the rules dealing with the dog breeding, marketing and pet shops have adversely affected the business of poor breeders and pet shop owners and the rules are sometimes used against them by some animal welfare societies while some NGOs denied the allegations.
"Human rights and animal rights should be balanced. If we involve pet shop owners and breeders concerns and then draw a conclusion and come out with a law, then it would be feasible," said Bharti.
The Association claimed that round 2,500 people joined the protest on Saturday including the politician. The protests will be joined by Salman Kurshid and Sandeep Dikshit however the association claimed the protest to be non-political.
Ashok Pratap Rai, President, PLA, said, "While the intention to regulate pet trade and prevent cruelty to dogs and animals is largely welcomed, major parts of both legislatures are deeply flawed, anti-human, and are resulting in grave cruelty to the people engaged with the trade."
Similarly, Ajay Pratap Singh, General Secretary, PLA said that the rules pertaining to the space are unreasonable as many developed countries do not have such strict rules.
"Another highly unreasonable clause is the length and breadth of the enclosure for a dog which has been prescribed as four times to two times the length of the dog," Singh said.
The prescribed area is unreasonable in a country like India when the rules are lenient in some developed countries, he added.
The members of the association further alleged that this is largely affecting many breeders and those related to the trade, putting many out of the job and is leading to the harassment of self-employed people and making them vulnerable at the hands of some NGOs that sometimes confiscate the animals and harass the traders.
Amidst this, some NGOs talking to The Pioneer have completely denied the allegations made by them.
Gauri Maulekhi, representative of People for Animals, said, "Breeding and trade of animals has been completely unregulated and outside the ambit of tax leading to rampant cruelty and fraud withcustomers. The industry is simply resisting any regulation and wants to continue with the old ways." Many other NGOs also denied the allegations made by PLA.