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Posted 5/08/2008. India has a big problem these days in the form of dogs.  According to a recent city census by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for Mumbai there are an estimated 26,900 pet dogs in the city.  Yet, there are only 4,204 licensed dogs in the cities records.  That’s an outrageous number of pet dogs and probably stray dogs running around the city!  This information came to light only after Newsline sent a Right to Information (RTI) query to the BMC and they released the information.  These 22,000 unlicensed pet dogs are breaking Section 191 B of the BMC Act 1888.  Actually both the civic body and the owners of those unlicensed dogs are breaking the law.    One of the big worries resulting from this information is the likelihood that many of these pet dogs are going unvaccinated.  In the city, only vaccinated dogs can be licensed.    Abodh Aras of Welfare of Stray Dogs, said: “As a rabies control measure, licensing is important for a pet owner”. He said a countrywide study a few years ago indicated that unlicensed pet dogs largely contribute to the spread of rabies.  So, required licensing should make the city safer for both dogs and people.  Yet, this law seems to be going unenforced resulting in such a large increase in the number of unlicensed pets.    GT Ambe, a BMC joint executive health officer said that, ‘“We have been hamstrung by shortage of staff. We now aim to license at least 10 dogs per day so that at least 15,000 to 20,000 dogs are licensed in a few years.’  This was in response to just why there are so many dogs running around without licenses.  The Mayor of Mumbai, Shubha Raul indicated that the BMC is thinking of increasing the licensing fee for dogs by 25 times its current cost.  This could only make it worse for pet owners who do license and increase the licensing problems the city is already having now.  Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/More-than-22-000-pet-dogs-in-city-not-licensed-says-BMC-census/307320/