Mubashir Naik
With a large number of dog biting incidents in Jammu city, Jammu municipal corporation issued an advisory on July 15, in which dog owners are asked for registration of their pet dogs.
Mind it dog lovers, do not skip registration of your pet otherwise, you can face a fine or an impound as recently notified by the Jammu Municipal Corporation.
The deadline for the registration falls on August 31 giving dog owners a 45 days period to register their pets in the scheduled time.
Municipal Veterinary Officer (MVO), Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), Dr Susheel Sharma told UNI, “the public notification for dog registration was issued on July 15 till August ending and it has been made mandatory under some objectives especially to make Jammu free from rabies.”
“If dog will be registered, it will also ensure that whether it is vaccinated against rabies or not,” said the MVO adding that the registration fee has been fixed @ Rs 500/- besides annual renewal @ Rs 300/- while the forms are being provided free of cost, which is available at Corporation’s Veterinary wing and is also made available to the pet clinics within the municipal jurisdiction.
Apart from the anti-rabies vaccination campaign, the registration will also help JMC in keeping a check on the population of pet dogs, cruelty/abuse against them, and punishment to owners in case of dog bite complaints.
“Once the dog gets registered, the owner will be provided a booklet to maintain vaccination record of the pet, a metal token with a registration number, which be helpful in tracing missing pets,” said Dr Sharma.
“We often receive complaints from police and locals about pet registrations in dog bite cases but we are helpless as the owner in most of the incidents cannot be identified due to which action cannot be taken,” he said.
“One more important factor involved in this exercise is to keep a check on the breeding of female dogs to control the population of canines,” said the officer.
“Vaccination and sterilization process will also be intensified once we get complete data of pet dogs population in the city,” he said mentioning that simultaneously a planned exercise is also under consideration to keep a tab on the growing population of stray dogs.