CHENNAI: A male Chippiparai dog, born in 2017, was taken for training by the Tamil Nadu Commando School based in Boat Club area, RA Puram. However, almost four years later, the dog has been put up for auction, as it is yet to be trained. Animal activists are concerned by Tamil Nadu police’s move to auction a native breed dog that it had bought for service.
The auction has caused a stir, as Chippiparai and other native breed dogs have high market demand, especially if they are pure breeds. “Bidders at auctions often turn out to be exploitative breeders, who use the dog excessively for breeding and treat them very poorly,” said Antony Rubin, an animal rights activist.
Service dogs should not be abandoned; instead, they should be rehabilitated, put up for adoption and given to a verified caretaker, he said. Rubin added that they should at least sterilise him before auctioning it to keep exploitative breeders away.
In 2012, the government had approved a pension (feeding allowance) of Rs 45 a day for retired police sniffer dog Tiger after he completed his 10 years of service. Tiger, an expert in detecting crime cases, got an extension of two years of service as even after completing eight years in service he showed no sign of ageing.
Speaking to Express, a police officer from the Dog Squad Services said that the Chippiparai who is scheduled to be auctioned on May 10, is, however, untrained. “We gave the dog multiple chances. But, he did not cooperate for training. The dog also does not have Kennel Club Of India (KCI) certification,” he said. He added that it is unlikely that the police will sterilise the dog before the auction.