Friday, 19 November 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has started a campaign to check dog owners without valid dog licenses to make the city rabies-free. The corporation has assigned two teams to check the licenses of the owners during the early morning and evening when most of the locals come out with their dogs to take a stroll.
Since the last financial year, the corporation has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of dog licenses. While the highest number of dog licenses issued by the MCD in a year was only about 500 till 2019, this number increased to over 4,000 licenses in 2020. The corporation collected revenue of over Rs eight lakh which was hardly Rs one lakh in past years but it also increased the rabies vaccination of dogs. Motivated by this, the corporation even introduced an online registration system in May for the owners to apply for the license and deposit the fee to make the application process convenient. “Increase in the number of dog licenses does not just signify the high revenue collection but also increasing rabies vaccination of dogs. Last year, 80 per cent of owners of dogs registered in the MCD vaccinated their dogs days before applying for the license.
Since a valid rabies vaccination certificate issued by a veterinary is a mandatory document to get a dog license, the owners have to vaccinate their dogs,” stated the senior municipal veterinary officer Dr DC Tiwari. He said that though the number of licenses issued by MCD is increasing, many owners still fail to apply for the license. Considering this, Tiwari has formed two teams to conduct regular checking campaigns in the early morning and evening when most of the locals take their dogs for a stroll. He said, “We are penalising dog owners without licenses and also focusing on raising awareness. The team is imposing a minimum penalty of Rs 500 initially which will increase to Rs 5,000 if the dog owners fail to get the licence even after repeated warnings.” Tiwari informed that the corporation has imposed a penalty on about 10 dog owners in two days and also warned them to get the license within two weeks.
