The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's new '1 pet per flat' rule has been facing a backlash from animal lovers and pet parents all over the city. While there are multiple campaigns going on about this and the hastag #Notwithoutmydog is trending on twitter, one woman's Facebook post about her amputee grandmother who is living alone in the city, with the company of her dogs is going viral.
Sanjana Madappa, a popular animal activist in Bengaluru, who works for Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA), took to Facebook two days ago to raise her voice against the new law with this touching story of her grandmother. An excerpt from the post read:
"The BBMP doesn’t want to fix our infrastructure, our sanitation lines, the potholes on the road, the garbage that piles up on the sides of the roads and stormwater drains but they want to come into our homes and tell us who we can choose to be a part of our family. My grandmother was not going to leave her dogs behind in a life and death situation, you think your by-laws will make her leave her dogs in your hands? I’d like to see you try."
Read the full post here:
"The by-laws are supposed to help with illegal breeding, but now the BBMP is seemingly targetting responsible pet owners and people who rescue dogs," says Sanjana who lives with multiple rescue dogs. "I think the by-law is coming from the perspective of the resident associations and communities. The BBMP should come up with laws that promote responsible pet ownership that promotes a peaceful coexistence between dog lovers and others."
She says the BBMP is unsure if the law has a provision to take up extra pets from a household or if it wouldn't affect people who've had pets from a long time. Either way, she is unhappy. But at the same time, she has a few suggestions that would make the situations better. She says, "There are some positive by-laws, like keeping your dog in a leash in public places. Also, pick up your dog's poop from public places. These laws are very positive. BBMP should concentrate more on these sort of laws, rather than coming to our houses and telling us that we can't have our pets as a part of our family."
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Two years ago, Sanjana did a pregnancy photo shoot with her dogs which had gone viral. There, she also said how her canines helped her while going through a painful pregnancy.
