Dog licensing rate in Chennai district continues to be at an abysmal low
The Hindu
Only 1,300 pet owners go in for a license every year; the document has to be renewed annually. Licenses are linked to coverage of anti-rabies vaccination
In Chennai district, a dog licence can be had for a farthing — just fifty rupees — and in a cruel twist of irony, it is being accorded just the value of a farthing.
Pet owners either do not realise that their pet dog needs a licence, or, if they do, they pooh-pooh the notion, considering their four-legged family member as above it as andromeda is above planet earth.
“Every year, only around 1,300 pet owners go in for dog licensing, and the number is low, due to lack of awareness,” says Dr. Kamal Hussain, veterinary officer, Greater Chennai Corporation.
Before 1996, when animal birth control (ABC) mechanism was yet to click into place, and stray dogs were eliminated through electrocution, a license for a pet dog was invariably a license to life.
It was common for a pet dog that had stayed on to the roads to be left alone, if it carried a licence around its neck.
The need for a dog licence now might not be as dramatic as that, but it is a need that has hardly diminished.
If anything, it has only increased in significance. With the human population in the metro moving at a gallop, pet dog population has also increased, and it is necessary to keep a close tab on the health of these dogs.