-The Times Of India - Mumbai, 3/29/2019
Court tells govt to stop sale of ‘
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protected species in pet shops
Vijay.Singh@timesgroup.com
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- Mumbai: The Bombay high
t court has told the government
s to ensure that pet shops do not
, sell protected species like my-
- nas, parrots, turtles or puppi-
es less than two weeks old.
The order to ensure there
is no animal cruelty and to
implement the Pet Shop Rules
2018 and the Dog Breeding and
Marketing Rules 2017 came on
a public interest litigation.
The bench of Chief Justice
Naresh H Patil and Justice N M
Jamdar passed the order on a
PIL by Shivraj Patne who so-
- ught to ensure that all pet
n shops and dog breeders are re-
- gistered with the notified body.
n After the counsel for the
r State Animal Welfare Board
- (SAWB) brought to the court’s
e notice that Nashik, Latur and
n Nandurbar districts do not ha-
d ve a Society for the Prevention
- of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),
s the bench directed that these
n be set up with NGO-appointed
e members in the three dis-
tricts. “The HC directives will
- set up a proper infrastructure
- in the state to implement pet
. shop and dog breeding rules
- that were brought out in the
e notifications by the Union mi-
e nistry of environment, forest
- and climate change,” said
N SAWB counsel Ambika Hira-
Cropped page Page: 5
MOVE TO STOP ANIMAL CRUELTY
The Centre had brought out notifications for Pet Shop Rules 2018 and M
Dog Breeding & Marketing Rules 2017, which state… c
Breeders can’t carry out m
dog breeding activity and m
trade and pet shop owners th
can’t do business without d
certificate of registration n
from state is
notified body d
concerned a
Pet shops can’t sell protected
No puppy P
species like parrots, mynas,
under two M
munias, turtles
weeks of age in
can be traded Birds must be kept in hygienic 1
under the Dog cages of suitable sizes; wings c
Breeding Rules must not be clipped o
c
nandani. “Now, all districts The counsel added that the go- a
will have functioning SPCAs, vernment endeavors to pass $
governed by the State Animal the proposals in the supple- ti
Welfare Board, to ensure that mentary budget in June. h
animal cruelty does not take PETA activists allege that
place in pet shops, during dog pet shops and breeders often m
breeding and sale of animals.” sell ill and injured animals to O
Poonam Mahajan, SAWB unsuspecting public, fail to g
chairperson, welcomed the or- provide veterinary care to ani- a
der. “Animal welfare needs in- mals, keep animals in filthy ca- p
frastructure, else our laws will ges and often fail to provide p
remain on paper and animals them adequate food or water. s
will continue to suffer.” CEO of PETA India Manilal e
The court also took note of Valliyate told TOI: “PETA In- p
the state counsel’s argument dia welcomes the HC order... “
that the government has mo- Laws to protect animals in pet te
ved a budget proposal for Rs 5 shops and used by breeders are M
crore for the SAWB and an ad- a step in the right direction but r
ditional Rs 5 crore for SPCAs. enforcement is often lacking.” fo