Thane Society That Fined ₹5.5 Lakh To Resident For Walking Dogs Flags Failure To Submit Vaccination Certificates

Mumbai: Thane’s Hawaiian Co-op Housing Society, which imposed a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh on its member for walking his dogs in the society’s premises, said that the member has failed to submit vaccination certificates of his dogs even after multiple requests. The society has alleged that they had to impose the fine after all attempts of mediation and counselling with the member failed.

On Thursday, The Free Press Journal reported about the disagreements between the managing committee of Thane’s Hawaiian Society and one of its members Subajit Bhattacharya who runs a shelter house for 20 paraplegic dogs at his residence. He was fined Rs 5.5 lakh for the month of May for taking his dogs out on walks. The society alleged that the residents are suffering due to the constant barking noise, sanitation issues and rodent infestation.

Talking to The Free Press Journal, the society’s managing committee members said that the residents have been facing issues since the time he shifted to the society in 2022 although he assured that he will not let anyone face any issues due to his dogs. They claimed that they had to take the extreme step of imposing hefty fines as Bhattacharya failed to submit the vaccination certificates of his dogs even after multiple requests.

N.S. Fateram, a committee member, said, “We ourselves are pet owners and respect his commitment towards the animals but he should be considerate towards other people living in the society, who complain about issues arising due to the shelter house. We gave him 30 days to submit vaccination certificates, during which a team of our committee members also counselled him but he was rigid on his stance. Therefore, we imposed the fine to deter him and find a solution. We have even offered to scrap the fine if he submits the certificates of his dogs.”

The society’s committee members also claimed that one of them had offered an acre of land near the society to Bhattacharya to shift his dogs there and even get him fundings from NGOs to run his welfare work but he denied shifting the dogs. They claimed that a 65-year-old cancer patient living opposite his residence had to shift from the society due to the dogs’ barking noise.

Rahul Khandelwal, the society’s secretary, said, “We had raised objections about multiple dogs being kept inside one house but he had assured us that he will keep only around six dogs. The number of dogs kept increasing and so did the howling, which now continues throughout the day and the night. There are a lot of leftovers from the food he cooks for his dogs in the open area of his bungalow, which is picked up by birds and thrown around.”

The secretary also alleged that none of the dogs at the shelter house were registered with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) as stated by its veterinary officer through an RTI reply.

However, Bhattacharya claimed that all his dogs are vaccinated and has once shared the vaccination certificates with the society. He also said that the civic body can not issue pet licenses to his dogs since they are rescued animals and not pet animals.

“I have vaccination certificates for each dog and had submitted them to the society during the initial days, although I am not obliged to since they are not the concerned authority. I have asked them to take up the issue with the licensing authorities, multiple animal welfare organisations have counselled them but they keep reiterating about the vaccination and licenses,” he said.

Bhattacharya has sought legal guidance from the Pure Animal Lovers (PAL) Foundation, which has claimed to be working on legally challenging the society’s fine. Roshan Pathak, animal rights advisor with PAL Foundation, said that the registration of dogs is done only in Mumbai and not Thane, due to which the RTI reply could not provide registration details.