AWBI asks Kerala to ensure registration of pet shops

KOCHI: The animal welfare board of India (AWBI) has asked its state counterparts to regulate pet shops and breeding centres and ensure that they have been registered and all animals are in good health.
In a circular, the AWBI has that once the Covid lockdown restrictions have been eased, immediate steps should be taken to ensure that registration of all pets shops is done.This is often where people bring in exotic animals and birds and they are kept in unhygienic conditions. There have been reports that the origin of coronavirus is from the exotic animal markets.
During the lockdown, AWBI had issued a letter requesting state animal welfare boards (SAWB) to ensure evacuation of animals stranded in pet shops and other commercial pet trade establishments which were likely to die without food, water, etc. “Most of these dog breeding establishments and pet shops were found in possession of various local, exotic and wild animal and birds, etc. Further, it has also been noticed that the animals are not kept in an ideal environment and the animals are suffering from unnecessary pain and cruelty. Therefore, to regulate the pet shops and dog breeding establishments so that the establishment followed scientific norms, mitigate spread of zoonotic disease outbreak, the Central government has framed Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2017 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules, 2018.
Under these rules, the pet shop and dig breeding establishments need to be registered and the SAWBs are the registering authorities. Rule 4(5) of the Pet Shop Rules, 2018 requires the SAWBs to register and issue certificates of registration to each pet shop while Rule 3 prohibits the operation of pet shops without such registration. It is requested that the SAWB ensure that after the lockdown restrictions the pet shops and dog breeding establishments must be registered and they can open only after registration, the circular said.
“We have been asking the state government to ensure registration under the said rules. But the government has not done anything. Both the minister and animal husbandry director are chairman and member secretary of the SAWB. The central rules are there for last two years, but of no avail,” said M N Jayachandran, SAWB member.