Gurgaon’s dog owners in a fix after directive banning some breeds

While announcing an interim compensation of Rs 2 lakh for a woman who was wounded after being attacked by a pet dog in Gurgaon in August, the commission also issued directions to the civic body mandating registration of pet dogs — one family will keep one dog, in public places the dog’s mouth shall be covered with a net cap or otherwise, and every registered dog should wear a collar to which a metal token and a metal chain should be attached. The commission directed MCG to take all stray dogs in its custody and keep them in dog ponds.

Jitin Rao, a resident of sector 46, who owns two Rottweilers, said, “This order is bizarre. I have raised my two dogs like my child. How can someone just take custody of one of my children? The temperament of a dog depends upon several factors, including training and upbringing. No one in our neighbourhood has had any issue with me keeping dogs… I do not understand the rationale for issuing directions to ban these breeds based on one stray incident of a dog bite. Has the forum relied on any study or data which says a majority of dog bites are caused by these ‘ferocious’ or domesticated breeds?”

Rishabh Chauhan, who owns a bulldog, said the authorities lack the infrastructure to enforce these directions, and the orders, if implemented, will lead to abandonment of these breeds. “There are not enough dog shelters to support the stray dog population and carry out sterlisation and vaccination,” he said.

Hemant Kumar, a city-based pet breeder, who runs a kennel and a stud farm, said, “There is a negative perception among people regarding certain breeds like Dogo Argentino, Rottweiler and Pitbull. Some of these are traditionally guard dogs and they do not usually attack humans unless provoked. Often due to security concerns, they are trained to prevent entry of intruders, but a lot depends on how a dog is trained.”

He said muzzling a dog at all times in public places was detrimental to its health and could cause breathing issues. “Covering the mouth with a muzzle  in public places can lead to behavioural issues and may cause a dog to be insecure and agitated,” he said.

In the case of compensation filed by the dog bite victim, the dog owner had argued that the complaint was not maintainable, as the complainant was not the owner’s consumer. The MCG took up the same plea that complaint was not maintainable against it as neither the complainant had any locus standi to file complaint nor the court had any jurisdiction to entertain and decide the complaint. The forum held that MCG is estopped from pleading jurisdiction, stating that, “all the persons who are residing within municipal limits of MCG are expressly or impliedly the consumers of MCG because they are admittedly paying municipal taxes, state and central government taxes, fees and levies…to the MCG”.

Chitranshul Sinha, a lawyer, said that the consumer forum has no inherent powers to pass orders like a writ court. “The Gurgaon consumer forum does not seem to have jurisdiction to pass orders of this nature. The person seeking relief against the municipal corporation should have ideally filed a writ petition in the High Court… This is even more bizarre because it has passed an order to capture all the pet dog breeds, which it has purportedly ‘banned’ even though the owners of these dogs were not parties before the forum, and thus this order has been passed without affording them an opportunity to be heard. Thus it makes the order violative of principles of natural justice as well. Further, it has passed orders fixing registration fees and fines, which is also not within its jurisdiction. The order is also contrary to the Supreme Court’s order passed on Wednesday while hearing an appeal against the Bombay High Court order, which had directed that stray dogs be captured. The SC said today that such capturing etc cannot be permitted like this.”

Speaking on whether the directions of the consumer forum will be implemented, Vijay Pal Yadav, joint commissioner, MCG, said, “We are examining and reviewing the forum’s directions , after that, any decision shall be taken. We will have a discussion with senior officials and if required, notices shall be sent to dog owners.”