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The Greater Chennai Corporation has called upon pet dog owners to register their animals with the corporation as a pet dog census will be conducted soon.
A Corporation statement said that the it was planning to update the census as the number of pet dogs in the city has increased manifold. The civic body's Veterinary Officer, J. Kamal Hussein, in the statement said that the residents can register at the corporation's veterinary clinics at Nungambakkam, Tiruvika Nagar, Meenambakkam, and Kannammapettai. He said that registering pet dogs with the GCC would lead to free vaccination at corporation hospitals as well as follow-up on regular deworming of dogs. According to information with the GCC, there are only 1,200 pet dogs that are registered with it but more than 55,000 dogs are in the houses under the corporation. The Veterinary Officer also said that each registered dog would be provided with a coin-shaped pendant with an ID. The pet dogs that are missing from homes can also be easily traced if they are registered with the GCC, the statement said. While pet owners and animal activists have welcomed the decision, some say that there are fewer veterinary clinics in the corporation and mobile veterinary clinics must be arranged for maximum vaccination. Talking to IANS, Sukhami R. Nath, a resident at Anna Nagar West and owner of two pet dogs said: "This is a welcome move, but the corporation has to provide more veterinary clinics as that would increase the volume of people who get registered their pet dogs. The corporation has an awful shortage of veterinary clinics at present and this won't do. Hence my request is to increase a few mobile veterinary clinics." The annual registration fee for each pet dog is pegged at Rs 50 and most pet dog owners do not find this a big amount but the shortage of veterinary clinics is a matter of concern. --IANS aal/vd ( 331 Words) 2022-08-30-22:38:02 (IANS)
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