Pet shops shut due to lockdown with live animals inside in Bengaluru

The city-wide lockdown over COVID-19 has also prompted the shut down of Bengaluru’s pet shops, often with a menagerie of animals trapped inside.

Shivanand M Dambal, a member of the Karnataka State Animal Welfare Board of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and representatives of Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) and People for Animals (PFA) met with Dr Shashi Kumar of the BBMP on Sunday afternoon to discuss measures to address incarcerated animals.

“There are 140 pet shops in Bengaluru, out of which 40 are in the East Zone alone. Now, we are getting complaints from several NGOs that the owners of many of these shops have locked up without providing the animals with food and water,” Dambal said.

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Arun Prasad, an animal activist who attended the meeting with Dr Kumar, cautioned that if an action was not taken soon, hundreds of these unsold pets would die.

“This is not just the BBMP’s responsibility to safeguard these animals, but the responsibility of society. If these animals perish in droves, it will add to the significant health challenges that the city already faces in the form of the coronavirus. Other diseases could come out of this,” Prasad said.

According to Dambal, the BBMP and the Karnataka Animal Welfare Board will conduct an immediate survey of the 140 shops to ensure their status. “If a person is running an illegal pet shop, that shop will be closed and the animals will be moved out,” he said.

When asked on what grounds the shops could be closed down, Dambal clarified that the High Court had issued a notification in February, asking all dog breeders and shops involved in the pet trade to apply for a certificate from the State Animal Welfare Board within a period of three months.

“Almost none of the stores had come forward to apply. These shops can now be shut down because they do not have the said certificates,” Dambal said.

An impromptu inspection later on Sunday revealed that several pet shops in the Shivajinagar area had been closed with an unknown number of animals inside.

Dambal added that all exotic and domesticated animals found in “illegal” shops would be handed over to animal shelters such as those operated by Maneka Gandhi’s People for Animals (PFA) organisation.

A decision was also taken at the meeting to provide food for urban animals such as street dogs.

Dr Kumar said the BBMP would delegate three vehicles to do the task. “Food will be disbursed at fixed times between 7 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm across the city’s four zones,” he said.