THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This bird lover hailing from Karamana had to fight against all odds to gain his right to rear a few exotic winged friends at his home. Bharvhin C R, a VSSC employee, never in his wildest dreams, thought that he would have to move the court for bringing in a few pairs of African love birds to his home to beat the lockdown blues. When a neighbour complained of noise nuisance with the local police, they insisted on the removal of birds from his terrace. Bharvhin then moved the High Court which directed the police to refrain from demanding the removal of birds.
“I started rearing birds during the lockdown. I have two kids at home and everybody was stuck because of the pandemic. I bought five pairs of African love birds from a friend. My love for birds grew after bringing them. Their eggs hatched and I have around 15 pairs. I had to move them to the terrace as they needed more space. A neighbour raised a complaint and the health officials from the city corporation carried out an inspection. They didn’t find any violation. I had taken registration from the Forest and Environment Department,” said Bharvhin.
“Later the neighbour took it up with the local police and I got a call from the station. They instructed me to give away a few birds to reduce the noise. It was during the lockdown and I asked for more time as it was impossible to do anything because of the restrictions. I signed a paper agreeing to comply with their instruction. The police gave me a deadline and they came to my home and told me it was illegal to keep so many birds. They alleged that I was doing a business without paying taxes to the government,” Bharvhin added. Fearing harassment and bullying from the police, he had to move all the birds to a friend’s place.
“The police asked me to remove all the birds from the terrace and gave strict directions not to keep any birds. It’s the right of a person to keep pet animals and the police have no right to give such direction. Hence I decided to move the court which ruled in my favour. The court has asked the government to submit a report on whether there are any violations after inspecting our place. I will bring the birds back to my home soon,” Bharvhin said.
M N Jayachandran, a member of Kerala State Animal Welfare Board, said there should be more specific guidelines for pet animals. “Proper maintenance and hygiene should be ensured while rearing birds and there is a need for drafting more specific guidelines by the authorities. Licensing for pet animals should be made mandatory. Recently, the High Court has also issued an order mandating licensing for pet animals,” he said.