Victory for Bengaluru pet owners? BBMP’s plans to limit number of pet dogs put on hold 
Karnataka

Victory for Bengaluru pet owners? BBMP’s plans to limit number of pet dogs put on hold

Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj made the announcement after meeting with pet owners and animal activists on Wednesday.

Written by : TNM Staff

It has only been three days since the BBMP stirred a controversy by announcing that its new pet licensing byelaws had been approved by the Urban Development Secretariat. But thanks to proactive campaigning and pressure from dog lovers and pet owners in the city, the byelaws have now been put on hold.

The byelaws mandated that apartment dwellers could only have one dog per apartment and those in independent houses could have only three. Further, the BBMP also put out an “approved” list of breeds that could be reared in Bengaluru apartments. Not only did the list appear heavily plagiarised from a similar one published by the Singapore Housing and Development Board, but it did not include popular breeds such as the Golden Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Beagle or the Indian stray (indie).

Also read: BBMP's 'approved' dog breeds list makes no sense, and is eerily similar to Singapore's

What drew even more ire was that the byelaws were retrospective – which meant that people who already have more than one pet or a non-approved breed were required to give them up.

Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj, who met with pet owners and animal activists like Sanjana Madappa, Chinthana Gopinath and Priya Chetty Rajagopal on Wednesday, acknowledged the anger and concerns of pet parents in the city.

“In many apartments, there is more than one dog and people are keeping them as pets. The dogs are like family members. And to suddenly abandon any dog is like giving away their son or daughter, which they don’t want to do,” the Mayor said.

“And most of the second or third pets adopted by them are stray dogs which are not being maintained well by the BBMP… We are withholding this [byelaws] until we further discuss with the council and we’ll talk to our officers as well. Till the time we take a final decision, let the status quo remain,” he added.

The Mayor also acknowledged the ‘Not Without My Dog’ movement on social media which hundreds of concerned dog lovers and pet owners joined in.

On Wednesday evening, in fact, the hashtag trended on Twitter, with people strongly opposing the BBMP’s draconian and ill-thought byelaws. They posted photos of their dogs, expressed that the canines were a part of their family and promised to fight the authorities if they tried to take away their furry companions. There were a few witty memes in the mix too.

Check out some of the tweets below.

A source from the expert committee, which was originally formed to formulate the pet licensing laws, said that they would take the public opinion into account during further consultation on the matter.

While there is no official word or redaction yet from the Urban Development Secretariat, activists who have spoken up against the byelaws are optimistic and believe that the provisions will ultimately not hold.

Also read: No BBMP, you cannot take away my dogs: Your byelaws are vicious, writes a Bengalurean