Unlawful: Not exercising pet or feeding strays near homes

VADODARA: Do you own a pet dog or love to feed stray dogs? Well, then you are committing an offence if you are not exercising your pet dog regularly or feeding a stray dog near a residence. Similarly, members of a resident welfare association cannot ban keeping pets or feeding stray animals inside or outside the gated complexes. These are a few of the several laws and guidelines on dealing with animals in the country. While there are even more, a city-based lawyer, who is an animal lover, has compiled these laws, rules, guidelines, judgements given by various courts in the country in the form of a book for easy reference for animal lovers and the rights and protection of animals. “There was so much data and confusion prevailed in the minds of people when I met them. So, I tried to compile whatever was possible and I am sure a lot of is still left out,” said the lawyer Jaideep Verma, who co-authored the book ‘Animal and the law’ with Ritikaa Modee. The book was released last week in New Delhi by MP Maneka Gandhi, who is also an animal rights activist and an environmentalist. “The book is not a one-stop legal opinion, but it has interesting things and acts as a guide for somebody who has empathy for animals,” Verma said. The book mentions various laws like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Animal Birth Control Rules, Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules, Performing Animal Registration Rules, Wildlife Protection Act, Capture of Animal Rules, guidelines issued by UGC for experiments in zoology and life sciences. The book not just talks about the law and rules, but also has interesting trivia dealing with running pet shops, animal insurance, adoption or buying of dogs, temples where animals are worshipped among other things.