New guidelines to regulate pet stores

The rules will provide technical guidelines to pet shop owners and pet grooming facilities,including standards of sanitation,ventilation,heating,cooling,humidity,special and enclosure requirements,nutrition,medical treatment,methods of operations and maintenance of records concerning health care.

There are about two lakh pet shops in India,of which nearly 200 are in Mumbai,according to conservative estimates of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI),a body constituted by the government in 1960,which was involved in formulating the rules.

D Rajashekar,secretary of AWBI,said,“There has been a long-felt need for strict directives for the pet shop owners. A continuous commercial exploitation of pet animals has been rampant in the country for years. Pets are sold as juveniles within one or two days of birth and they are cramped in small cages and made to starve in shops. As medical checks and hygiene is abysmal and in many cases,the pets die within days of being bought. Besides cruelty to the animals,customers have also been complaining about being duped at pet shops.”

BSPCA secretary,Dr J C Khanna,said,“With no rules laid out by the government for pet shops,there has been a lot of confusion in the industry so far. The new rules will set a base guideline for pet shops owners.” Khanna said they had received several complaints about cruelty to animals in pet shops of Crawford Market. “There are about 18 pet shops in Crawford Market. Civic authorities have given them licence to keep and sell pet animals. However,our inspectors receive regular calls about abuse and bad maintenance of animals there.”

Ninad Shukla,a resident of Vashi,who recently purchased a hamster from the market said,“At a shop newly born hamsters were kept in tiny cages. Many of them had skin infections. I’m giving treatment to my pet.”

Meanwhile,a Dadar-based dog seller said pet selling business will be hit by the rules. “International laws specify several guidelines for keeping dogs and other animals in a store. However,in Mumbai there may be seven to eight pet breeders who follow these guidelines.”