HYDERABAD: Centre’s recent directive to ban 23 breeds of dogs like Pitbull, Rottweiler, Bulldog, Akita, among others has left pet parents and dog lovers from the city flustered. Many are also worried about the fate of their pets as the ban mandates neutering them.
“This ban has come out of nowhere and left people like me perturbed. I have three Pitbulls and have to change my house soon. My dogs have never hurt a human in the six-seven years of their life, but now for no fault of theirs we might not be able to get a house on rent. That’s my concern,” said Vamsheedhar Sharma, a pet-parent who also has an indie dog as a pet.
Those working with different dog breeds are equally stunned. Especially since they say that the number of attacks by these dogs are few and far between.
“This is nothing but discrimination. Already, there are multiple illegal bans on pet parents — like restrictions on using common areas of gated communities and parks. Now, such a ban will further isolate them,” said a flustered L Puducherri, founder of Petfolk, which is a service app for pet needs that has at least 100 dogs of the now banned breeds enrolled and availing services. He added: “People attacked by dogs are far too few when compared to those dying due to vector-borne diseases, shouldn’t officials take note of that instead?”
Dr Jasleen Kaur, founder of Allvet Pet clinic in Banjara Hills expressed her shock and said that this ban was like treating symptoms of aggressive dogs and not the cause which was illegal breeding and poor pet-parenting. “In my 10 years of practice not once have I been bitten by a Pitbull or a Rottweiler. Instead, I have been bitten by Pugs, Beagles, and Shitzu that people consider to be ‘friendly’. This goes to show some breeds are being penalised for human error,” she said.
According to her, factors like not checking temperament of the breed, confining dogs of high energy breeds in small spaces, inbreeding and backyard breeding, lack of checks on pups post sale are some factors that cause aggression among dogs.
“After the ban there are many parents making anxious calls to us and asking us what to do next as existing pets of these breeds need to be neutered and not all are ready to let their pets go under anesthesia for the procedure,” added Dr Jasleen.
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