NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 24th December, 2001

S.O. 1256 (E) - Whereas the draft Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 were published, as required under the sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (59 of 1960), vide Ministry of Culture notification number G.S.R.816(E) dated November 2, 2001 in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part 11, Section 3, sub-section (i) dated November 2, 2001 and whereas objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby were invited before the expiry of 30 days from the date on which copies of the gazette containing the said notification have been made available to the public;

And whereas copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on November 2, 2001;

And whereas the objections/suggestions received from the public have been incorporated in the rules.

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by the sub-sections (1) (2) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (59 of 1960), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:

1. Short title and commencement : (1) These rules may be called the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definition : In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) "Act" means the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

(b) "Animal Welfare Organisation" means and includes the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and any other welfare organization for animals which is registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 (21 of 1860) or any other corresponding law for the time being in force and which is recognized by the Animal Welfare Board of India

(c) "Board" means the Animal Welfare Board of India, established under section 4 and as reconstituted under Section 5A of the Act;

(d) "Committee" means a committee appointed under these rules

(e) "local authority" means a municipal committee, district board or other authority for the time being invested by law with the control and administration of any matters within a specified local area;

(f) "owner" means the owner of an animal and includes any other person in possession or custody of such animal whether with or without the consent of the owner;

(g) "Veterinary doctor" means a person who holds a degree of a recognized veterinary college and is registered with the Indian Veterinary Council.

3. Classification of dogs and their Sterilization : (1) All dogs shall be classified in one of the following two categories (i) pet dogs, (ii) street dogs.

(2) The owner of pet dogs shall be responsible for the controlled breeding, immunization, sterlization and licensing in accordance with these rules and the law for the time being in force within a specified local area.

(3) The street dogs shall be sterilized and immunized by participation of animal welfare organizations, private individuals and the local authority.

4. Formation of Committtee : A monitoring committee consisting of the following persons shall be constituted by the local authority namely

(a) Commissioner/Chief of the local authority, who shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee.

(b) A representative of the Public Health Department of the local authority.

(c) A representative of the Animal Welfare Department if any of the local authority.

(d) A veterinary doctor

(e) A representative of the district Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)

(f) At least two representatives from the Animal Welfare Organizations operating within the said local authority.

5. Functions of the Committee : The committee constituted under rule 4 shall be responsible for planning and management of dog control programme in accordance with these rules. The committee may:

(a) issue instructions for catching, transportation, sheltering, sterilisation, vaccination, treatment and release of sterilized vaccinated or treated dogs.

(b) authorize veterinary doctor to decide on case to case basis the need to put to sleep critically ill or fatally injured or rabid dogs in a painless method by using sodium pentathol. Any other method is strictly prohibited.

(c) create public awareness, solicit co-operation and funding.

(d) provide guidelines to pet dog owners and commercial breeders from time to time.

(e) get a survey done of the number of street dogs by an independent agency.

(f) take such steps for monitoring the dog bite cases to ascertain the reasons of dog bite, the area where it took place and whether it was from a stray or a pet dog.

(g) Keep a watch on the national and international development in the field of research pertaining to street dogs' control and management, development of vaccines and cost effective methods of sterilization, vaccination, etc.

6. Obligations of the local authority :

(1) The local authority shall provide for

(a) establishment of a sufficient number of dogs pounds including animal kennels/shelters which may be managed by animal welfare organizations;

(b) requisite number of dog vans with ramps for the capture and transportation of street dogs;

(c) one driver and two trained dog catchers to be provided for each dog van;

(d) an ambulance cum clinical van to be provided as mobile center for sterilisation and immunization;

(e) incinerators to be installed by the local authority for disposal of carcasses.

(f) periodic repair of shelter or pound.

(2) If the Municipal Corporation or the local authority thinks it expedient to control street dog population, it shall be incumbent upon them to sterilize and immunize street Dogs with the participation of animal welfare organizations, private individuals and the local authority.

(3) The animal welfare organizations shall be reimbursed the expenses of sterilization/immunization at a rate to be fixed by the Committee on fortnightly basis based on the number of sterilization/ immunization done.

7. Capturing/sterilization/immunization/release : (1) Capturing of dogs shall be based on:

(a) Specific complaints (for which the local authority in consultation with the Monitoring Committee shall set up a dog control cell to receive complaints about dog nuisance, dog bites and information about rabid dogs) and

(b) General :

(i) On receipt of specific complaint about nuisance or dog bite the same shall be attended on priority basis, irrespective of the area from which the complaint comes. On receipt of such complaint the details such as name of the complainant, his complete address, date and time of complaint, nature of complaint etc. shall be recorded in a register to be maintained for permanent record.

(ii) Capturing for general purpose will be on such dates and time to be specified by the Committee.

2. The dog capturing squad shall consist of

(i) The driver of the dog van

(ii) Two or more trained employees of the local authority who are trained in capturing of dogs.

(iii) One representative of any of the animal welfare organization

Each member of the dog squad shall carry, a valid identity card issued by the local authority. The dog capturing squad will be accompanied by a representative of an Animal Welfare Organisation nominated for the purpose.

(3) On receipt of specific complaint or for capturing dogs in normal course the dog squad will visit the concerned area, capture the dogs identified by the complaint in case of complaint oriented capturing and other dogs in case of general capturing. All the dogs caught will be tagged for identification purposes and to ensure that the dogs are released in the same area after sterilization and vaccination. Only stipulated number of dogs, according to the Animal Birth Control Program target, shall be caught by the van. A record of dogs captured shall be maintained in a register, mentioning therein the name of the area/locality, date and time of capture, names of persons in the dogs squad on that particular day and details about dogs captured such as number of male dogs, number of female dogs, number of puppies etc.

(4) The dogs shall be captured by using humane methods such as lassoing or soft-loop animal catchers such as those prescribed under the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty (Capture of Animals) Rules, 1979.

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