If you thought that the Licence Raj was a thing of the past, then think again. It is set to return — for your pets, your beloved dog, cat, bird, fish, guinea pig, and what not. The Pet Shop Rules 2010 pushed by some militant NGOs and proposed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests ostensibly seek to regulate the trade of pets across the length and breadth of India. But they fail signally in their stated purpose and have meandered into other realms in ways that are most unreasonable and even absurd in the Indian context.
Under the Draft Pet Shop Rules 2010, the central government proposes to rein in and regulate privately operating individuals, pet owners and pet shops, requiring them to obtain a licence to keep, breed, and sell pets. These rules in draft form have been published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, as required under sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, calling for objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected.
Ensuring decent standards of food, shelter, and care for pet animals and birds in shops is of course a laudable idea but there is much mischief lurking in this attempt at regulation. Although titled Pet Shop Rules, the proposed new regime will require that every person concerned with the handling of pets from birth to sale or death be embroiled in the process of licensing. In fact, careful scrutiny of the Pet Shop Rules 2010 suggests they might as well be titled ‘Abolition of Pets Rules 2010.'
The draft Rules suffer from a number of inconsistencies; they are deficient in common sense and reason; and their implementation in the present form is guaranteed to lead to a fertile environment for corruption to flourish. The Rules provide terms and conditions for the grant of licences to pet shops, approval of pet shop premises, and minimum standards to be ensured for animals in pet shops. Shockingly, through a process of aggrandisement, they extend their jurisdiction (via Para 18, “Rules for persons buying a pet”) to the buyers of pets — requiring them to have a separate license for each pet, to be renewed every year!
Even if pet lovers are brave enough to complete the process, they will have to live in constant fear of the inspectors of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) or its representatives descending on their houses at will. They should be prepared to have their pets confiscated by NGO activists and sold should they determine lack of compliance with any of the Rules. This means pet-keeping, far from being a relaxing and healthful activity that physicians recommend, will become something that is taxing to health. Instead of teaching children to love and care for their pets, these Rules are more likely to compel them to learn how to bribe and hide from the law.
Among the many anomalies in the proposed Pet Shop Rules 2010, a few are listed below: non-compliance with these unreasonable or absurd requirements could mean closure of the pet shop and cause an owner to lose his or her pet forever.
The pet shop must comply with certain conditions for a licence to be obtained from the local municipality as well as from the AWBI. The applicant must pass a mandatory test conducted by a representative of the AWBI and the local body to get a license. The intended pet shop shall be established away from sound, dust, or air pollution. It must have two large windows for ‘cross-ventilation' and if the roof is flat (concrete) with no room above, a false ceiling shall be provided. The ambient temperature of the animal dwelling within shall be between 25 to 30 degree centigrade with humidity of 50 per cent through the use of heating and cooling systems.
For the overwhelming majority of children in India, we do not have such temperature-controlled and humidity-controlled environments. How many government schools, hostels, hospitals, orphanages, and so forth have these facilities?
According to the draft Rules, no pet shop shall sell to a customer a dog or cat that has not been sterilised and if by any chance sold without sterilisation for reasons stated by the veterinarian, the pet must get sterilised within four months at the owner's place by a licensed veterinarian. This means after the present generation there would be no dogs or cats available to the public as pets!
Even after these draconian conditions, which form merely a part of the Rules, are met, a sword of Damocles will hang over the pet shop: the Rules say that the AWBI or its authorised personnel can at any time cancel the licence without assigning any reason!
These rules, aside from being unreasonable and absurd, contain a good deal of scope for mischief. Instead of promoting a proper trade in pets that can have the socially beneficial effect of making people, especially youth, more compassionate and caring towards all living beings, they will make the process of pet-keeping a punishment. If implemented in the manner proposed, the new Rules will surely lead to a sharp reduction in the number of pets bred and kept across the country. According to conservative estimates, the proposed Rules will affect, directly or indirectly, the lives of more than a million Indians connected with, and earning their livelihood through, the pet trade — not to mention millions of pet lovers across the land.
Government officials should have applied their mind to the objectives and purpose of these draft Rules with minimal insight into the likely implications before presenting them to the public. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests should give up any idea of bringing in this ill-considered regime even in a modified form.
( The writer is a lawyer and aviculturist based in Bangalore. His email id is su_farooq@rediffmail.com )
