The Hindu : 'No threat to dog show'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 23, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Kochi

'No threat to dog show'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI NOV. 22. The Cochin Kennel Club has decided to go ahead with the All-India Dog Show to be held at the Rajendra Maidan here tomorrow, ignoring the threat posed by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). As a prelude to the event, an exclusive show of police dogs was conducted here today.

The convener of the show, Bejoy Varghese, said the demand raised by the SPCA, that all participating dogs be registered under the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules-2001, was ``flimsy and out of context''.

Mr. Bejoy said the very intention of serving a notice just a few days before the show was mala fide. He said dog shows were being widely held in all parts of the country and abroad, and they were never considered a cruelty to animals.

Legal experts in the city too had opined that one could not move against dog shows citing reasons of cruelty.

In fact, those who participated in dog shows care for their pets more than anyone else, they said.

According to Jose Kannanthanam, senior High Court lawyer, the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules-2001 could not be invoked in the case of a dog show.

The dogs at the show were never made to perform; they were only paraded in an exhibition, he said. No action could be taken against either the organiser or the participants in a dog show under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (Central), 1960, he said.

Even though the notice served by K.K. Joseph, junior inspector of SPCA, on the Cochin Kennel Club had created confusion among a section of the participants, the number of entries made so far indicated that the show would be the biggest in Kerala.

As many as 318 dogs of all breeds are taking part in the show, which will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

According to the organisers, over 15 per cent of the dogs are imported. Soon after the Kochi show, other kennel clubs of Kerala are planning to organise such shows in Palakkad, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram.

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