Grooming a pet project

Dogs are India’s most popular pets trumping fish, birds and cats. Furry foreign dog breeds are favoured by pet owners and the most popular breeds are Huskies, Saint Bernards, German Shepherds, Labradors, Dobermans, Terriers, Beagles, Bully Kutta (Indian Mastiff), Shih Tzu, Pugs and Pitbulls. Owning them has become more of a status symbol.

Maintaining these furred pets is, however, not easy; they have to be vaccinated, groomed regularly and pet salons in Chennai charge anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 20,000 for a grooming session. The Siberian Husky is one such imported dog breed that is the current hot favourite, whose popularity can be largely attributed to social media-with dedicated social accounts featuring videos of Husky puppies hiding in freezers and their slow-motion videos.

The price of a Husky ranges from Rs 30,000 to 45,000. A Chow dog which is native to China can also be spotted in Chennai; its price is around Rs 80,000.

Despite their popularity, imported dog breeds are not best suited for our country.“Tick fever, which is a dengue-like fever, is on the rise among dogs in the city. Foreign dog breeds like German Shepherds have a very thick mane which makes it very difficult to find ticks on them. Imported dog breeds are also more prone to sunstroke and dogs like Huskies must be kept inside air-conditioned rooms. Exotic dog breeds are very few in the country, and this leads to in-breeding which causes congenital hereditary diseases. They are also not suited for our tropical climate and their life spans are also decreasing,” saysDr G Paul Fredrick, Veterinary Physician and former Deputy Director of the Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department.

In 2016, the Indian government banned the import of foreign dogs for commercial breeding and exceptions were given only for defence and research purposes.

The demand for exotic pets like iguanas, pythons, sugar gliders, hamsters, hedgehogs, eagles, Persian cats and exotic fish is also on the rise, fuelling illegal wildlife trafficking in the State. Birds like macaws and cockatoos that are favoured for their brilliant plumage cost around Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. A Burmese Python can cost around Rs 3 lakh and rare albino iguanas can cost around Rs 2 lakh.

“People want to own pets that nobody has, and end up buying pets which are not suitable for them. More than 90 per cent of people buy exotic pets impulsively after watching movies, YouTube or Instagram videos,” says Kirean, owner of an exotic pet shop in Chennai. “Many people don’t know how to take care of exotic pets, or feed them correctly, and they mistreat or neglect them. These pets die within a year or pet owners return or release them.Invasive species like tank cleaner fish, Alligator gar, Arapaima, Pleco and red-eared slider turtles are being let out in ponds near Chengalpattu and Velachery, putting native species at risk. Iguanas used to be in trend but as they are sometimes aggressive, do not bond with their owners and tend to escape, and are not popular anymore,” he added.

Last year, more than 7,000 red-eared slider turtles were seized at Chennai airport; in February, a leopard cub was seized and in March, an African horn pit viper, two rhinoceros, iguanas, three rock iguanas, 22 Egyptian tortoises, four blue-tongued skinks and three green tree frogs were seized. There are loopholes in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 which are being exploited by the exotic pet industry. “The Act only protects approximately 1,800 Indian species and does not offer protection to nearly 35,000 endangered species whose trade is banned worldwide under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Fauna (CITES) and other species. Hence, enforcement agencies can only stop them at entry points into the country but if they are somehow smuggled in, they cannot stop their trade,” says Dr Saket Badola, head of TRAFFIC (Trade Record Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), India.

“Almost 95 per cent of Chennai pet shops do not have proper paperwork and they even sell exotic pets for half the price via WhatsApp” says Kirean.

“Strengthening existing laws, demand reduction, behavioural changes in people, capacity building of enforcement agencies, better coordination among various enforcement agencies will help protect them,” Dr Saket says.

Slowly but surely, native dog breeds of Tamil Nadu are making a comeback. Breeds such as Chippiparai, Rajapalayam, Kombai and Kanni were bred by ancient royal families of Madurai and Tirunelveli and were mostly used for hunting but years of neglect and preference for imported dog breeds pushed native dog breeds into oblivion.

“The cost of participation in international dog shows has been halved for native Indian dog breeds to promote them in the Madras Canine Club and in the Kennel Club of India,” says C V Sudarsan, president of the Madras Canine Club. “We have applied for FCI certification for native dog breeds which are expected next year, and this will give them worldwide recognition. Chippiparai and Kanni dogs are fast runners requiring lots of space while Rajapalayam and Kombai dogs can be owned by people living in apartments in cities. Chennai has more than 200 native dogs,” says Dr V S Ravi, president of the Native Dog Breeds Speciality Club and the Anaimalai’s Kennel Club. “Native dog breeds are more robust and resilient to our tropical climate,”says Dr Fredrick.

Indian mongrels also known as the Indian Pariah dogs, which have been neglected, are also gaining popularity. Also, increasingly many people, including famous personalities in Tamil Nadu, are adopting Indian mongrels as pets. They have even captured the fancy of foreign travellers. In 2017, a Ukranian couple adopted an Indian mongrel and named it ‘Chapati’ and started the Instagram account @travelingchapati featuring the dog in famous locations around the world to spread awarenesson Indian mongrels.