Chennai Corporation moves to curb pet abandonment with ₹10,000 penalty

Starting Friday, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will collect a fine of ₹10,000 from pet owners who abandon licensed dogs and cats. It passed a resolution to this effect at the council meeting on Friday.

The fine was reduced from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000 following councillors’ objections.

The GCC will also launch a facility for registering complaints about missing pets. Owners will not be penalised if they registered a complaint and the animals were subsequently rescued by the Corporation. A total of 40 dogs abandoned by their owners were rescued by NGOs in the past few weeks. An official said the penalty was expected to deter residents from abandoning pets.

Scanners will be provided for all 40 vehicles used in dog-catching operations, with 320 dog catchers, to identify the owners of dogs and cats and penalise violators.