Courtesy AAPN: Want a pet? Get licence first

Courtesy AAPN: Want a pet? Get licence first

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Want-a-pet-Get-licence-first/Article1-540813.aspx

> Want a pet? Get licence first
>
> Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
> Email Author
> New Delhi, May 08, 2010
>
> Very soon, you will need a license to own a pet, whose well-being will be
> regularly inspected by government officials. If your pet is found to be in
> bad health, the officials will have powers to confiscate them.
>
> In the new draft rules for pet shops, the environment ministry has made
> license for each species of pet mandatory and allowed sale of only
> sterilised pets, except where a veterinary doctor allows. “The license will
> be valid only for 12 months,” the rules said.
>
> However, the pet owner would be able to obtain the license directly from
> the local authorities or with the help of the pet shop owners, who will have
> to take a license to operate. Government officials will have the right to
> inspect the pets at regular intervals.
>
> “It is a positive step,” said Poorva Joshipura, chief of People for Ethical
> Treatment of Animals India, in an email response to HT.
>
> The rules, to be implemented jointly by local municipal bodies and Animal
> Welfare Board of India, prescribe air-conditioned living for pets up for
> sale. “The ambient temperature for animal dwelling are shall remain between
> 25-30°C and humidity below 50 per cent,” the draft rules notified for
> inviting objections this week said.
>
> That’s not all. The rules prescribe standards of living for different
> species of animals and birds and the level of hygiene the shop owners will
> have to wait. A minimum of 24 sq feet area will have to be demarcated for a
> large dog and 12 sq feet for a large cat. Rules also cover the food that
> each species should get daily. Each pet shop will have to employ a doctor.
>
> The rules also prohibit pet shops near butcher shops and require labelling
> on the health of the animals or birds for sale.

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