Sans License, Breeding Of Pet Dogs Remains Illegal

Backyard breeding is the practice of mating home or pet dogs with each other with an intent to produce specific qualities and characteristics.

According to the Dog breeding rules drafted by Animal Welfare Board of India, backyard breeding activity is done in the most unhygienic conditions, cruelly exploiting the animals for easy money. Many Pet shops often source and sell pups from such breeders.

Though seemingly of pure breed, often they are actually of poor quality and often diseased, resulting in heavy mortality, or weak and unhealthy animals that are ill-treated, and in many cases simply abandoned on the street.

Not only is this compounding the street animal problem, but this unethical trade also has high zoonotic potential which is a public health concern.

As of now, The State Animal Welfare Board of India has not been issuing any fresh licenses. For the record, breeding your dog can be termed legal only if the owner has a valid license.

Speaking to Vineeta Tandon, Founder- Voices for India’s Voiceless Association (VIVA Pune) and Animal Rescue trust says, “According to dog breeding and marketing rules 2017, breeding of dogs and sale of puppies is banned without a valid licence from the state animal welfare board.

Previously, kennels and individual breeders were permitted by the animal welfare board of India, but now they need to be registered and have a license in place.

Vineeta adds, “Backyard breeding is most unethical and cruel. Female dogs are bred twice a year, every year, dogs are rotated for mating and pups are sold at an age as young as 2-3 weeks. Pups are sent to other cities by road in most unhygienic and precarious conditions and some lose their lives during transportation.

Most of the adult dogs after the age of 8 years when rendered useless, are often discarded or simply killed by breeders. Our NGO has in fact rescued many such dogs.

These innocent dogs spend all their lives in cages and without any vaccination and medical treatment only because of the human greed for pure bred pups, Vineeta added.

Preeti Agarwal, Owner of Petville shares, “Breeding of animals is one of the most lucrative businesses in India. It lures many people to take this up as a side career or main business mainly because of the money involved.

Majority of the people involved in the breeding business treat the animals as a mere medium to earn money they are ill-treated and overbred.

There was a dire need of strict laws related to breeding and mating of dogs and we are happy that finally there is a constructive law in place, where the registered breeders will have to keep a record of the puppies and also keep a record of their vaccination details. Initially, puppies were sold without proper paper work which can’t be done anymore.

Preeti also shares, I would urge all the animal lovers to first give a chance to the shelter animals. Unlike what many think, the shelters have many breeds and only India dogs who are all in need of loving homes.

Give a chance to the homeless first and if you can’t find your favourite breed after much wait, only then think of buying and that too with all papers.

If you choose to buy a pup without papers, then you will be going against the government policies. It may cost you less, but it will cost a dog his or her life.

Also, check the mother’s age before buying a puppy and she should not be more than 8 years old. It’s illegal to breed a dog who is older than 8 years. However, ideal adopt a homeless dog rather than buying one, Preeti added.

Aarti Prabhu, Pet parent shares, “We have mated our home bitch a year back, as we were not aware of the rules.

However, as soon as we got to know about the rules, a volunteer from the city told us to put the puppies up for adoption. We agreed since we didn’t want to make money out of it and our concern was only our pet’s health.

Backyard breeding is illegal, yet many vets in the city suggest that the dog should be mated at least one before he or she is neutered or spayed. First-time pet parents tend to go by this as finally they have the well being of the pet as a priority, Aarti added.

Prabhu also says, “More awareness about spaying or neutering pet dogs should be built by the vets as people will listen to them rather than trying to understand the laws or what an activist tells them.

Responding to this, Senior City Veterinary Surgeon, Dr Sagar Bhongale says, “Matting of pet dogs is never advisable, as there are many pet dogs who are born out of illegal breeding.

Dogs can transfer their deficiency or illness to their offspring hence we don’t advise mating.

Moreover, dogs don’t have the same response like humans and mating them once is help their health or satisfaction levels. In fact, Neutering and spaying of dogs is advisable for long life span, Bhongale added.

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