In a first for Punjab, Ludhiana MC to launch compulsory registration of pets

Pending for around nine years, the Ludhiana municipal corporation(MC) is finally commencing online registration of pets in the city and residents will now have to shell out Rs 400 per annum as registration charges for a pet. The owner will also have to bear the expenses if the pet bites anyone.

The Ludhiana MC is the first to commence pet registration in the state.

Only pet dogs and cats will be registered in the first phase and MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal is expected to start the process on Tuesday.

As per the terms and conditions laid down by the MC, it is mandatory for every dog/cat owner to get the pets registered with the MC by December. Otherwise, the owner will have to pay Rs 4,000 as penalty on being caught without registration.

According to officials, a pro forma has been finalised and uploaded on the MC’s official website (mcludhiana.gov.in).

Pet owners will have to visit the MC’s website and fill in the pro forma giving details and uploading photographs of the pet and the owner.

Following this, a licence will be issued online and the owner will have to take a copy of that to the Zone A office of the MC, for getting a token for their pet.

MC senior veterinary officer Dr Harbans Dhalla said, “It will be mandatory for the owner to tie the token around the neck of the pet and, if any pet is caught without token, the pet would be taken into custody and the owner would have to pay a fine of Rs 100 per day till the time he/she gets it registered. “

“The licence will be renewed every year in April. The owner will bear the expenses on medication, if the pet bites anyone. Pets will not be allowed to defecate on public places and the owner would be responsible for cleaning the area if the pet defecates,” he added.

The MC would cover animal breeders, cattle and other animals in the next phase, said Dr Dhalla, adding that the MC finds it difficult to locate the pet owner in absence of registration.

He said an abandoned pitbull dog has been in custody of the MC since April 3 and the MC is struggling to find the owner.

The MC General House had approved a resolution regarding the registration, proper control of stray animals and compensation to the victims of dog bites in September last year and the local bodies department approved the same in January.