Darjeeling, May 11: Darjeeling municipality has decided to register all pet dogs in town and create a shelter for the upkeep of stray pooches.
The registration
fee has been fixed at Rs 300 a year and pets vaccinated against canine
hepatitis, rabies and other diseases can apply.
The announcement was made at a dog show organised by the Darjeeling Kennel Club at Chowrasta here today.
Amar Singh Rai, chairman of the civic body, said: “Till some time back, I used to hear that kofta (meat
ball laced with poison) used to be given to stray dogs but this
practice has stopped. We are taking initiatives for the proper care of
dogs in Darjeeling.”
The 164-year-old civic body still has a post of a dog shooter.
“But the dog shooter has been working as a peon at the Darjeeling municipality and no longer shoots dogs,” Singh Rai said.
Sources said the primary objective of getting pet dogs registered was to keep tabs on them.
“We will charge a
nominal amount (Rs 300 per annum) for registration. Since a lot of
animal lovers gathered here today, I would appeal to everyone to take
the initiative,” Singh Rai said at the dog show today. “Dogs would not
be allowed to litter everywhere and create nuisance in the
neighbourhood. If the owners do not get their pet dogs registered, we
would be compelled to take adverse action,” he added without
elaborating.
Singh Rai, however, did not say when the registrations would start.
Prawi Pradhan, a
businessman and the proud owner of Spotty, a two-and-a-half-year-old
Dalmatian who took part in the show today, said: “This is a good
initiative. Once registered, every dog will have a tag and it would be
easy to find them out if they get lost.”
The civic body would not hold camps or vaccinate the registered pets, sources said.
The municipality has also decided to create a shelter for the upkeep of stray dogs.
“We are in the
initial stages of discussions with NGOs to set up a dog pound where
strays would be looked after and given vaccines, like anti-rabies
vaccines,” said Singh Rai.
Last year, Darjeeling witnessed few incidents of suspected dog attacks
On January 11,
2013, Chengba Sherpa, a resident of Toongsoong, was found dead with his
flesh ripped apart near Chowrasta. It was suspected that a leopard had
killed him.
Few days later, on
January 22, Sachadev Lepcha, 21, was chased by stray dogs and bitten in
the same area. Local people came to his rescue and managed to scare
the dogs away.
Forest officials
had laid traps and installed CCTVs in the area and the footages had
shown that a goat that had been kept as bait was attacked by stray dogs
almost every night.
Manish Lama, the
president of Darjeeling Kennel Club, said: “The objective (of creating
the dog shelter) is to vaccinate as many stray dogs as possible.”
Today, 70 pooches of 13 breeds participated in the dog show
A pair of Russian
Samoyed — Sky, 5, and Lilian, 6, — said to be the only ones in the
country, attracted shutterbugs throughout the show.
“I got them flown
in from Siberia through a Taiwanese breeder. The dogs are used to pull
sledges there and are very friendly with humans but they are cruel to
animals,” said Diamond Oberoi, the owner. The pair cost him Rs 3 lakh
around five years ago.
Gangtok resident
Roshan Tamang’s five-year-old German Shepherd Liger won “dog of the day”
title at the show. Liger enthralled the crowd, almost 1,000 people,
with tricks like jumping through a ring.
Lama said: “The
dogs participated in small, medium, large and giant categories. In the
giant category, we had Tibetan Mastiff, Saint Bernard and Great Dane.
Source: The Telegraph