BBMP set to ban ferocious dogs from apartments, residential units

The civic body is planning to ban ferocious dog breeds like Doberman, German Shepherd, Rottweiler and Hounds from apartment buildings by reviving the pet bylaw proposal with relevant changes.

The bylaw, once implemented, would only allow breeds known to be friendly to strangers in apartments and residential units.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) first came up with the rules for pets in 2012, which proposed to make it compulsory for pet owners to take permission from the authorities.

In 2018, it wanted to introduce the bylaws with changes to restrict the number of dogs owned by apartment dwellers to one and individual houses to three, with further proposal to implant microchips on the canines. But it eventually put the idea to the backburner.

The draft ‘Pet dog permission bylaw-2020’ prepared by the BBMP’s animal husbandry department seeks to increase the responsibilities of the pet owners, while also adding provisions to encourage pet adoption.

The draft bylaw calls for regular and timely vaccination, compulsory sterilisation and euthanasia of dogs with rabies.

The bylaw makes the process to apply for a pet licence online. It would make provisions to download the application from the BBMP website and upload the necessary documents.

Owners abandoning their pets will get notices if they fail to rescue them in the timeframe specified by the rules, while the commissioner will be authorised to impose fines on errant owners.

Dog owners will also get fines if they fail to clean the feces of their pets from public places and leaving it in the designated areas.

Those failing to keep their animals on a leash, resulting in people and animals suffering dog bites, will also be penalised. Cruel treatment of animals will also attract fines.