Pune Civic Body Struggles To Enforce Pet Waste Rules As Dog Waste Continues To Deface Public Walkways
Pune, 29th April 2025: The health and hygiene of Pune’s residents are being increasingly compromised due to pet dogs defecating on public footpaths and roads. Despite repeated complaints from citizens, enforcement action against irresponsible pet owners remains minimal. In the last four months, only 14 individuals have faced penalties for allowing their pets to soil public spaces, according to data from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
With a growing population of pet lovers in Pune—especially dog owners—the issue of pet waste on streets has escalated. Dog owners frequently walk their pets along footpaths and roads, where the animals defecate. Although it is the owners’ responsibility to clean up after their pets, in most cases the waste is left unattended, creating sanitation challenges for civic cleaning workers and posing health risks to morning walkers and the general public.
Citizens have lodged multiple complaints with the PMC, urging stricter action, but officials in the Solid Waste Management and Sanitation Department appear to be slow to respond. As a result, the issue persists, prompting concerns over public hygiene and civic negligence.
Under existing regulations, dog owners who allow their pets to defecate in public spaces can be fined between ₹500 and ₹1,000. However, enforcement has been sporadic at best. In 2023, PMC penalized 221 individuals, collecting fines totaling ₹45,260. In 2024, 191 people were fined ₹79,078. But in 2025 so far, only 14 cases have been registered, with fines amounting to just ₹14,000.
The civic body had set up special squads to take action against such violations, particularly in public areas, roads, and footpaths frequented by dog owners and their caretakers. Despite this, the number of actual enforcements remains disproportionately low compared to the scale of the issue.
Moreover, PMC regulations now mandate that citizens obtain a municipal license to own pet dogs. The license application includes a clause requiring owners to ensure their pets do not contribute to public nuisance or hygiene hazards. Despite an estimated pet dog population of over 100,000 in the city, only a few thousand residents have obtained the necessary licenses.
Sandeep Kadam, Deputy Commissioner of the Solid Waste Management Department, stated, “If a pet dog is found defecating in public, a fine ranging from ₹500 to ₹1,000 is imposed on the owner. Health inspectors across all regional offices have been instructed to carry out such enforcement. On average, action is taken against four to five individuals per day.”
Despite these directives, actual implementation appears limited, raising questions about the efficacy of PMC’s approach in maintaining urban sanitation and holding pet owners accountable.
