Our Correspondent
Kohima, September 6 (EMN): To keep a check on the ever increasing menace of stray dogs in Kohima town, the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) in collaboration with Angami Students’ Union (ASU), has come up with the dog impoundment law, which was formally announced on Wednesday by the deputy commissioner of Kohima Rajesh Soundararajan in the KMC’s office premises.
The newly-introduced regulation also looks to improve the ‘face of the state capital’ as no dog would be allowed to wander around the town without its owner.
Unattended dogs will be impounded by two trained KMC dog catchers. The regulation will be enforced from September 11, 2017. Any dogs found wandering will be caught and kept at the dog pound located at the KMC garage (KMC parking/ Chaü), the KMC’s administrator Kethosituo Sekhose said. The official informed that cages and nets will be used for catching dogs.
A dog once caught will be taken to the pounding centre. However, dogs can be reclaimed by their owners during a statutory holding period of dogs which will be seven days at the maximum.
However, all the expenditure including food, medical care etc during the confinement period will be reimbursed or realized from the pet’s owner, it was informed.
To reclaim a dog, the owner has to submit their identity proof, any ID, to maintain a register for entry of all particulars of the said dog. The time to claim a dog will be from 9 am to 1 pm on all working days, it was informed.
After expiration of the holding period, if the owner fails to claim their dog, the authority shall dispose of the dog as deemed fit. The KMC’s administrator has informed about the option of even ‘disposing the dog to any other person who desires to own it and this may come with a price.’
Apart from the regular bill, the penalty for first offence under the law is fixed at Rs. 1000 while it is Rs. 1500 and Rs 2000 for the second and third offence. After the third penalty, it was informed that Rs. 1000 would be added for every subsequent time. Frequent defaulters would even be penalized to the extent of not being allowed to rear dogs anymore, according to the rules and regulations.
For strict implementation of the dog pound management, the ASU will also play a role while all the panchayats under the KMC have been informed to sensitize their respective areas in this regard.
The ASU’s president, Visako Rino, has lauded the KMC saying that ‘dog impoundment’ was a positive step toward building a ‘smart city.’ Rino assured that the ASU will do its best to sensitize people on this newly introduced facility.
