New Delhi: The Union environment and forests ministry has notified rules for pet shops across the country, specifying conditions under which animals or birds must be maintained on their premises, a move described by animal welfare activists as long overdue.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules, 2018, follow multiple representations made by organisations such as the Humane Society International and People for Animals expressing concern about cruelty in the pet shop sector.

Under the regulations, all pet shops would need to register with state animal welfare boards within 60 days after the rules become operational. The rules also propose standards for accommodation, infrastructure, housing and general and veterinary care among other operational requirements.

Pet shops would need to eliminate wire mesh from the floors of their enclosures and maintain health certificates from qualified veterinarians for all animals or birds in the shop under the rules. They would also need to have a exercise plan for every pup aged above 16 weeks.

"We welcome this move - it should have come long back," said Alokparna Sengupta, deputy director of the Humane Society International, an organisation that campaigns for animal welfare. "Animals kept in pet shops are often maintained in inhumane conditions."

Animals are typically denied full veterinary care, puppies are separated from their mothers, birds, rats, mice, hamsters and guinea pigs are stuffed in small cages without access to adequate food or water, the society said in a statement.

"Other common harmful practices include mutilation in the forms of de-beaking, tail-docking, feather-plucking, nail-clipping or de-clawing," it said, adding that an estimated 40 per cent of animals die in captivity or during transportation.