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The Bangalore municipality is toying with the idea of imposing a one-family-one-pet regulation

BANGALORE ~ You have heard of the one family, one child law in China. Well, the Bangalore municipal corporation has a slightly modified version of it—one family, one pet.

The Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city’s civic body, has come out with draft rules on the licensing of pets and has recommended that a family should be allowed to keep only one pet. The proposed restriction was arrived at after the number of domestic animals showed an alarming increase in the city, especially after many high-rise apartments allowed its occupants to keep dogs, cats and other pets.

Another reason municipal officials give is the increase in the number of stray dogs biting children. Though admittedly strays and pure pet breeds are different, the Palike believes that many households keep strays or feed them. Residents with independent houses built on plots also routinely feed and shelter strays. One old woman was recently reported to have sheltered more than 25 abandoned strays, and their barking and biting kept the neighbourhood on edge.

The idea has not gone down well among animal lovers. SA Peeran, a dog lover who spotted the offending draft legislation, has been going around making this clause public. Such state intervention, he feels, is not good at all. “People who can afford to have dogs can have any number, can’t they? After all, some breeds are highly valued and cost a lot to maintain. Licensing is fine, as it will add to state revenues, but imposing any restriction, in my opinion, does not withstand legal scrutiny.’’

BBMP officials are not sticking their necks out yet. “It is still at proposal stage, nothing has been finalised yet,” says one municipality official, apparently worried that he might just be barking up the wrong tree.

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Anil Budur Lulla