Licence fee BMC’s ‘pet’, but no cemetery

When Homyar Masani, a resident of Parel, rushed his pregnant labrador to the Parel animal hospital and she delivered two stillborn puppies, Masani had to cremate both of them after shelling out almost Rs1,000 at the hospital’s crematorium, which is the only one in the city.

“When we realised that we had to cremate them, I was surprised to know the rates since that was the only crematorium in the town,” Masani said.

Due to the lack of pet crematoriums in the city, people are asked to pay exorbitant amounts for the cremation of their pets. Also, not all of them like to cremate their pets. Some would also like to bury them.

“Realising such a need, I have demanded through a notice of motion that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) should set up few designated pet cemeteries and pet crematoriums in the city,” said Jyotsana Dighe, Congress corporator from Andheri (W).

Dighe said left with no choice, owners often bury their pets in nearby areas. “When the BMC charges for the pet licence and expects the pet owners to abide by all rules, the administration should also facilitate a respectful last journey for pets.”

Civic officials said usually, such constructive suggestions from corporators are accepted by the civic administration promptly.

Ratty Javeri, secretary of the Indian National Kennel Club said the Parel crematorium is very expensive, since they charge according to the size of the animal. “It’s high time the BMC considers the demand for more and cheaper crematoriums.”