Attention pet owners! License fee for your dogs to go up in Chennai

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation is mulling to increase the license fee for pet dogs as the existing fee is nominal and was fixed several years ago. Apart from this, the civic body has also decided to revamp its online portal for pet dog registration.

A Chennai Corporation official said that despite the online system for the pet dog registration, dog owners are shying away from registering their pets. "The online system will be updated to make it easier to use and awareness will be created about the registration process. Now, there are not many pet owners who use the portal, " the official said.

The civic body originally planned to launch the online portal in April 2020 but only launched in January 2021 after a delay of several months due to the pandemic.

As per a rough estimation by the Chennai Corporation, the city has more than 50,000 dogs. But, less than 1,500 dog owners only have pet licenses. Presently, pet dog owners should pay Rs 50 for registration and they should renew the licenses every year by paying Rs 50.

The official added that discussions are underway to increase the license fee. "A final decision will be taken after the discussion. We provide free vaccination and treatment to the pet dogs that are having licenses at Corporation pet clinics. We will connect with the Veterinary University and other private pet clinics to identify pet dogs, which do not have licenses. Based on the data availed from them, pet owners will be contacted, " he said.

Apart from streamlining the pet dog registration, the civic body also plans to conduct mass immunisation of stray dogs this year. As per the rules, the civic body should conduct a stray dog survey and mass immunisation once in every three years. During the mass immunisation drive in 2019, more than 68,000 dogs, including hundreds of pet dogs were immunised.