Pet bytes: LMC gets more than 100 plaints every month over tiffs between neighbours

LUCKNOW The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is getting over 100 complaints every month over tiffs between neighbours due to pets. Around 16 such cases have been filed in various police stations of the city during the last six months, said Dr Abhinav Varma, chief veterinary officer of the civic body.

“We have to solve the issues of people who have been bitten by pets of neighbours. Our effort is to solve such problems at the local level and don’t want neighbours to enter a legal battle,” he stated.

More cases were reported during the lockdown, when people were spending almost all their time at home. A few residents of Manas Enclave complained that their neighbour’s dogs were dirtying their place and the kids were unable to play because of the fear of dogs.

Varma said, “We had to call both parties and find an amicable solution. We warned the owner of slapping a fine if he didn’t clean the dog’s excreta. The kids play and dog walk were scheduled at different timings. There was no other way to settle such issues.”

“Recently, an FIR was lodged against a person whose pet chewed the genitals of a boy. In this case, LMC was unable to help because the matter had reached the police and cops had to take action. However, the LMC requests people to ensure that their pets do not pose any problems for neighbours. There are certain dos and don’ts, which have to be followed,” he said.

“We also receive complaints of bad behaviour of owners with their pets. Recently, we rescued four pets that were trapped inside a house in Gomti Nagar after their owner went out of station, handing them over to a domestic help. The domestic help used to lock them and dogs went hungry for days,” added Varma.

The owner was informed and the dogs were taken for proper feeding.

Additional municipal commissioner (animal welfare) Dr Arvind Rao said, “Stray dogs are also a problem for Lucknowites. They are fed by some residents and opposed by others. Recently, the Supreme Court suggested that people who feed stray dogs could be made responsible for vaccinating them and bearing costs, if somebody is attacked by the animal.”

However, animal rights activist Akash Pal said, “The LMC is not playing its role when it comes to solving matters of pets and strays in the city. Sometimes, complaints are lodged by neighbours because of animosity and there has been an incident in which a dog was shot by a man in Chinhat a few years back.”

He added: “The LMC is bringing rules and regulations, which are against animals, showing knee-jerk reactions, instead of bringing in rules to end this conflict.”

PK Patra, another animal rights activist, said: “The civic body will have to adopt the policy of minimum intervention and maximum control. The LMC should interact with animal rights activists and try to come out with a mid-way, so that residents don’t fight with each other due to pets.”

He added, “Rules like acting against the dog breeding centre, seizing dogs and keeping them away from owners would not yield results. At the same time, people should also train their pets so that the animals don’t bite when they come out.”