Dog owners demand extension of deadline for licensing of pets

: Dog owners have complained about crowding and overcharging in centres set up by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) for microchipping, and have demanded an extension of the deadline for pet licensing. 

Residents must pay a fine of ₹5000 if they fail to get a licence before the deadline of November 24. The GCC permits residents to get a licence for their pets only after microchipping and vaccinating them.

There are around 1 lakh pet dogs in Chennai. Of these, around 61,000 residents have registered their pets online. However, the GCC has issued only 21,500 licences so far.

Anna Nagar West Thendral Colony resident B. Tamil Selvan said the GCC should extend the deadline to January. “It should conduct camps in areas such as Anna Nagar to provide free microchipping. Many residents cannot afford microchipping services at private clinics.”

Anju Parthasarathy, a resident of Korukkupet, said though she took leave from her college to visit Puliyanthope clinic and microchip her pet, it took the entire day to complete the process. “The GCC must take stringent measures to control the crowd and appoint more staff members for pet registration, microchipping, and vaccination on priority,” she said.

Animal welfare activist Jayanth Prakash said the GCC clinics were crowded and chaotic. “Many had to wait for over five hours, and there were no chairs to sit. Only one person took care of the registration process at the Pulianthope clinic. The pets growled at each other and it was difficult to control them. Most of the individuals faced difficulties in registering their pets online. They had to pay ₹50 for registration, and another ₹50 if it failed. Many paid more than ₹300 per registration. Because of this, several pet owners were forced to visit private pet clinics, where they were charged a minimum of ₹2000 per pet. 

He added that owners with over three pets were unable to register using a single Aadhaar card, so this has created a lot of confusion among the pet owners. When the pet owners raised questions about this, the GCC officials themselves had no clarity. They were asked to submit an alternate Aadhaar proof in a different locality and do the registration.