Dog owners in Chennai will now have to be extra cautious while taking their pets on walks as the city civic body has decided to come down heavily on the menace of pet litter. As per the Corporation’s Solid Waste Management Bylaws, 2016, pet parents who fail to pick up their pet’s poop will be fined Rs. 100 for each infraction.

This decision comes after several morning walkers in the locality of Besant Nagar complained of dog poop lying untreated in the area, reported Times Now. Additionally, several notices were also sent to dog owners in the posh locality of Chennai; however, nothing came out of it.

Dog Owners To Be Fined

According to The News Minute, Antony Rubin, a Chennai based animal rights activist said, “Dog owners should be held responsible for their dog’s litter. It is not rocket science to clean their poop. Most dogs are fed dry food these days, so their waste is not particularly hard to clean. Besides, there is the public health hazard of leaving their poop to rot on the streets, and it is also a massive inconvenience to those who use the streets. We talk about Swachh Bharat, and it is such a big scheme in the country. So why can’t we do this simple thing to keep our streets clean.”

This by-law will be imposed after it goes for a public hearing by mid-July. However, what remains unclear is the implementation and the supervision aspects of the regulation.

Many big Indian cities have come down heavily on the issue of pet litter in public spaces. Earlier, Bengaluru’s civic body, BBMP, decided to impose rigid laws on pet dogs’ upkeep where they even capped the number of dogs each owner can keep. This decision was met with heavy backlash.

Additionally, Mumbai and Bangalore, to make pet owners more responsible, are imposing a fine of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 respectively.