Cuttack, June 30: The corporation’s pet dog registration scheme has failed to elicit desired results here this year.

This year, only around 44 people have got their dogs registered with the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) so far, as opposed to 72 last year.

It is apprehended that the total number of registration will be less than 60 this year.

Though the city has more than 10,000 pet dogs according to an unofficial estimate, very few dog owners care to obtain and renew licence for their pets.

City residents blame the corporation’s lack of willingness for strict implementation of canine registration rules for the poor registration records. Under Section 177 of the Rule 154 of the Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 1950, an individual needs to obtain a licence from the civic body to keep dogs.

Owners of dogs, who are more than four months old, are supposed to register their pets with the civic body by filling in an application form and submitting Rs 25 for each animal.

The owner also has to mention the name and colour of the canine, its identification mark, sex, breed and age while submitting the application.

A number of dog owners have also claimed to be ignorant of the existing registration norms as the corporation does not undertake any awareness campaign for such measures.

“I have three dogs of different breeds in my house. We have no information regarding the existing norms for obtaining any kind of licence from the corporation for keeping the animals at my home,” said Dipankar Dash, a resident of Tinikonia Bagicha here.

“The civic body should come up with a concrete action plan to ensure that existing provisions for pet registration are strictly followed,” said Umesh Sahu, a resident of Buxi Bazar.

“The registration records of pet dogs are low because of lack of awareness among people. The civic body will shortly launch awareness campaigns so that the number of dog registrations goes up,” said Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra, commissioner of the municipal corporation.

Mohapatra said that a survey would soon be conducted to ascertain the exact number of pet dogs within the corporation’s limits.