Ghaziabad Civic Body Extends Pet Registration Deadline to December 31

On Saturday, officials of the GMC extended the deadline to December 31 for owners of the dog breeds, especially Rottweiler, Dogo Argentino, and Pit Bull, that have been banned in the city. On October 15, the corporation board gave a two-month deadline for the pet owners to register their dogs.

According to officials, they have served 40 notices to residents having these three dog breeds, and only 12 have opted for registration.

The corporation’s chief veterinary and social welfare officer Dr. Anuj Singh said, “The deadline for registration of the three breeds is up to December 31 and thereafter, no registrations will be done in accordance with the decision taken by the board. The 40 notices have been issued to people who have these three breeds and have not come for registration.” Singh said that once the date of registration lapses, the pet owners will have to pay ₹5,000 fine.

“Our teams will visit the households of pet owners and they will be issued a penalty of ₹5,000 per instance if they are not able to produce registration documents along with vaccination and sterilisation certificates,” Singh said.

According to official calculations, Ghaziabad city has an estimated 20,000 pet dogs, including the three breeds. According to officials, they have so far given registration to 4,170 pet dogs. Singh added, “In the next board meeting, the modalities of action will be decided in case the pet owners do not register. Once the board decides the modalities, we will act accordingly.”

The board decided to ban the registration of the three breeds of dogs and claimed they were more aggressive and allegedly involved in many cases of dog attacks.

Ghaziabad-based animal activist and lawyer Ruchin Mehra said, “Any pet dog can become aggressive if it is not properly trained and the fault lies with the pet owners who do not train their dogs. The decision to stop registration seems to be biased against the owners of the three dog breeds. The pet owners, however, must register their dogs at the earliest.”