Courtesy FIAPO: Outrageous article re pet shops in the Hindu (29th May 10)

Courtesy FIAPO: Outrageous article re Pet Shops in the Hindu (29th May 2010):

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052951481300.htm

Dear all

The backlash has begun. Please see this article published in the Hindu on 29 May 2010. I am sorry, I came to know of this just now. The writer rubbishes the Draft Pet Shop Rules 2010 by saying absurd things like ‘why should pets have better facilities than what most humans in this country cannot afford’? He attributes extraneous motives to the rules and says they have inspired by militant NGOs (I wish we were!). It calls for a strong response from all of us aeven if we are late. Please write to the editor of the newspaper to express our collective outrage at this silly piece. The email id is letters@thehindu.co.in The newspapers requires all letters to carry the full name and postal address of the person writing.

And the author has his email id at the end and you might also want to write to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he himself owns one of those hell-hole pet shops in Shivajinagar in Bangalore!

I hope many of us will write in.

Regards,

Gopi Shankar

Licence Raj for pet-keeping

Syed Umar Farooq, The Hindu, 29 May 2010

The draft Rules, aside from being unreasonable and absurd, contain much scope for

mischief against pet lovers and the pets themselves.

If you thought that the Licence Raj was a thing of the past, then think again. It is set to

return — for your pets, your beloved dog, cat, bird, fish, guinea pig, and what not.

The Pet Shop Rules 2010 pushed by some militant NGOs and proposed by the Union

Ministry of Environment and Forests ostensibly seek to regulate the trade of pets

across the length and breadth of India. But they fail signally in their stated purpose

and have meandered into other realms in ways that are most unreasonable and even

absurd in the Indian context.

Under the Draft Pet Shop Rules 2010, the central government proposes to rein in and

regulate privately operating individuals, pet owners and pet shops, requiring them to

obtain a licence to keep, breed, and sell pets. These rules in draft form have been

published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, as required under sub-section (1) of

section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, calling for objections

and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected.

Ensuring decent standards of food, shelter, and care for pet animals and birds in shops

is of course a laudable idea but there is much mischief lurking in this attempt at

regulation. Although titled Pet Shop Rules, the proposed new regime will require that

every person concerned with the handling of pets from birth to sale or death be

embroiled in the process of licensing. In fact, careful scrutiny of the Pet Shop Rules

2010 suggests they might as well be titled ‘Abolition of Pets Rules 2010.'