Tens of thousands of Bangkok residents have one year to comply with new city rules on keeping pets.
A recent survey found that nearly 200,000 cats and dogs live in the capital, including about 29,000 strays – over 9,000 dogs and 19,900 cats. The remaining population are pets – 53,911 dogs and 115,821 cats.
City authorities have unveiled a radical plan to hold pet owners accountable for problem animals and curb the growing stray population by preventing pet abandonment.
“We will require pet owners to tag their dogs or cats with a microchip so they can be held accountable for their pets,” said Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) first vice chairman Napapon Chirakul, speaking as chair of the panel vetting the draft regulation on pet microchipping.
The draft was recently approved by the BMC and is now awaiting Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt's signature before being promulgated in the Royal Gazette. Pet owners will be handed a 360-day grace period following the promulgation of the new regulation.
Once the grace period expires, owners of pets found without microchips will be punished under the Public Health Act’s provisions covering problems or nuisances caused by animals.
How will pet owners be affected?
The regulation mandates that owners of dogs and cats must have their pets microchipped by a veterinarian and register the unique identifying code with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
If their pets cause problems, they can be held accountable thanks to the identifying microchips embedded beneath their skin.
The new regulation also imposes limits on the number of animals each Bangkok resident can own, based on the size of their home.
For example, condo residents with between 20 and 80 square metres of space can keep one dog or one cat, with the option to apply for special permission to keep two animals at most.
Houses with up to 20 square wah (80 sqm) of space can accommodate two cats or dogs. To keep three pets, owners must have between 20 and 50 square wah.
Keeping four pets requires a home size of 50 to 100 square wah, while homes larger than 100 square wah can accommodate up to six pets.
Authorities say caps on the number of pets Bangkok residents can own are necessary to prevent them from causing nuisances to neighbours by fouling footpaths or barking loudly. Keeping a large number of pets in one household also prompts hygiene concerns.
However, this aspect of the new regulation will not apply retroactively, meaning residents who currently keep multiple pets under one roof have no need to worry.
The new regulation will also impose restrictions on owners of dog breeds known for aggression, namely Pit Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Rottweilers and Fila Brasileiro, as well as individual dogs with a history of violence.
These dogs will be required to wear a muzzle outside their home and be kept on a leash measuring no more than a metre long when out in public. The strict measures are being introduced in response to a recent spate of dog attacks on humans, some leading to fatal injuries.
Growing dog problem
In response to complaints from residents, the BMA has taken in stray dogs, dangerous dogs and dogs whose owners are no longer able to provide care.
The BMA’s shelter in Prawet district has capacity for about 1,000 dogs but this falls far short of meeting the demand. City Hall thus set up another shelter in Uthai Thani, with room for another 6,400 canines.
The BMA also runs a rolling sterilisation campaign in a bid to curb the growth of the stray population.
