The Hindu 23.08.2013
Pet shops come under trade licence regime
The trades of manufacturing and sale of food, articles
for pet animals have been included in the existing trades list of the
Chennai Corporation. The State government has notified the trade under
the category of micro cottage industries. The licence fee for shops that
have an area of upto 1000 sq ft will be Rs. 2000. Shops larger than
1000 sq ft will pay a fee of Rs. 5000. The notification was published as
per Section 98-A of Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919.
The
proposal would be taken for consideration by the Chennai Corporation
after 30 days from the day of publication. Hence, any objection in this
regard would be received within 30 days for consideration. The
Corporation Council, in its meeting a few months ago, made a decision on
including pet shops in the trade licence net and commenced steps to
regularise such shops. So far, the shops were not covered under trade
licence net, causing problems pertaining to abandoned pets.
The
pet shops include those selling exotic breeds of dogs, cats, birds and
fish. The application for trade licence will be scrutinised by
Corporation officials. A copy of the application for trade licence by
pet shops should also be sent to the Animal Welfare Board of India. The
traders will have to renew the trade licence every two years by
remitting a fee of Rs.1,000. “The corporation should increase the trade
licence. This will promote responsible pet ownership,” said Vijay
Philip, a trader and consultant for pets.
The
inclusion of pet shops in the list of trades may reinforce existing
mechanisms of ensuring minimum standards of sanitation, drainage,
ventilation, heating, cooling, humidity, special and enclosure
requirements, nutrition, medical treatment and methods of operations.
The move will help ensure minimum standards of sanitation, drainage and nutrition in these establishments.