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“I wanted the dog as a companion for my pet. Since she was a pure-blooded Bulldog and a mate was hard to find in Mumbai, I chose to buy a male pup,” he said. However, when the dog finally arrived in Mumbai, Zaokar realised he had been cheated. “The pup arrived with a corneal
infection. Next, it developed skin problems, now it has a urinary track infection. I think I have bought a dog with congenital defect — maybe caused due to inbreeding or just continuous
breeding,” said Zaokar, who is a registered breeder in Mumbai. He is now haggling with the Kolkata breeder to exchange his pet.
In order to curb such illegal trade of pedigreed dogs in the market, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has called upon dog breeders across the country to register themselves with the board before
February 5. In a circular released on Monday, the board has urged breeders to strictly comply with the Government of India-notified ABC (Dogs) Rules, 2001, which makes it mandatory for breeders to register themselves with AWBI. Non-compliance with the rules “will cause legal and penal action”, the circular stated.
The AWBI has drafted an application form to be filled by the breeders while applying for registration. This form includes business details including the years of experience in dog breeding, the average number of dogs bred by the organisation annually (along with enclosed report of three years), details of license issued by the local municipal authority and breeds that are bred. Other important questions include the size and dimensions of the kennels constructed, the ratio of veterinarians to the number of dogs kept by the breeder, health and fitness certificate for breeding issued by a registered veterinary practitioner, number of pups born (and died) from individual bitches and names of persons buying the pups.
The business of pedigreed dog trade in India is worth crores of rupees — the most expensive being a Pug which costs Rs 35- Rs 40,000 followed by an Alsatian, which costs between Rs 25,000 and Rs 5,0000 (depending on its bloodline).
D Rajashekar, secretary of AWBI, said, “As per the ABC (Dogs) rules of 2001 every dog breeder in the country has to be registered by us.
However, all breeders don’t comply with this rule. We want to bring them under an umbrella rule and make the business transparent.” He roughly estimated the number of breeders in India to be between 2,500 and 5,000.
AWBI member Lt Colonel (Retd) JC Khanna said, “In Mumbai itself, there could be about 350 to 400 breeders of which only 20-25 are registered.” Khanna added that the rule is only for professional breeders so that individual pet owners are not cheated. Explaining how dog registration papers are often misused by unlisted breeders, Dr Yuvraj Kaginkar, hospital manager of Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) said, “Every pedigreed dog sold must have a registration which charts out the dog’s three-generation family tree. This registration is given to the buyer within three months of purchase of the pup. However, most breeders hold back the papers, and produce it as fake registration to sell mix breed or in-bred pups. Registering breeders will put an end to in-breeding, mix-breeding and incessant breeding of dogs.” The Kennel Club of India (KCI) registers pure-bred dogs purchased from breeders and tabs them with microchip. However, AWBI says that records of every pet sale are not available with the KCI as a lot of animals are believed to be sold in black.
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