Rottweiler attack spurs pet registration in Ahmedabad, 630 recorded in two days – more than double of last month

“Within two days after the May 12 incident, nearly 630 pet dogs were registered by the owners. This could be due to a wide coverage of the Rottweiler news as well as the police taking a serious note of the incident and springing into action,” CNCD head of department Naresh Rajput told The Indian Express.

It is not clear yet if any of the newly registered pets are Rottweilers. Under the “Rabies-free Ahmedabad city-2030” campaign, the registration of pet dogs began on January 1. The initial deadline for online registration has already been extended twice: From March 31, it was pushed to April 30 and later to May 31.

AMC officials said the deadline will no longer be extended, keeping in mind the May 12 incident.
However, penal action against those failing to get their pet dogs registered is yet to be determined by AMC. “This which will be done after discussions,” Rajput said. Earlier this week, the CNCD impounded a pet Rottweiler while the police arrested its owner, Dilip Patel, after the dog attacked 17-year-old Heena and her four-month-old niece Rushika on Monday at a residential society in Ahmedabad.

On Wednesday, the state government said that it is soon going to come up with a policy on domesticating “wild dogs” in the state. Action will be taken against those who keep wild animals, including wild dogs, at their homes, Minister Rushikesh Patel said while responding to a question related to the incident.

To be sure, though Rottweilers don’t come under the category of wild dogs, they are banned in certain states in light of incidents involving them.

As on May 15 afternoon, a total of 6,088 pet dogs were registered by 5,350 owners. The highest number of registered dogs were from the west zone — 1,663 dogs by 1,454 owners — followed by the north west zone where 1,412 dogs have been registered by 1,227 owners.

Among the breeds that are registered are German Shepherd, Labrador, Golden Retriever, Shih Tzu, Pomeranian, Pug, Doberman, and Husky.