Kathmandu, August 26

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has started slapping fines on people who let their animals defecate in public places of the capital city.

The provision aims to to curb open defecation by pets and keeps the city cleaner.

According to the metropolis, many pet owners take their animals outside in the morning and evening to allow them to defecate with no concern about the environment and society.

Rajya Prakash Pradhananga, chief of KMC’s health department said pet owners will be fined Rs 100 for polluting the environment with the pet defecation. Many locals are facing a tough time dealing with such pet owners who pollute the premises of their houses, fields and play grounds with toxic faeces of the pets, especially dogs and cats.

“Now the locals can lodge complaint through Clean Ktm application developed by KMC against the problem of pet defecation. The locals cam click pictures of dog owners polluting the environment with pet faeces and forward them to KMC through Clean Ktm app,” he said.

There are about 600,000 pet dogs in the capital that generate massive amount of waste, according to KMC.

The faeces of dogs and cats are hazardous to human health. The hookworms, tape worms, parvo, diarrhoea, hepatitis, dysentery, giardiasis, toxoplasmosis and other health hazards are spread by animal faeces. Also pet faeces is not good for the plants unlike human feces which function as fertilizers for green plants. Plants and other animals are vulnerable to pet faeces as it is toxic. However, KMC still doesn’t have any clear mechanism to free the capital of the faeces of street dogs, which could be fatal to human health and environment.

According to Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre, more than 22,500 street dogs occupy the urban space. Increasing population of street dogs is a factor behind the litter in urban streets, alleys, institutes, open spaces, parks, bus parks and temples. Dhanapati Sapkota, chief of Implementation and Enforcement Department at KMC informed that KMC has reached a deal with a private organisation to control the population of street dogs. Street dogs are captured and referred to dog shelters at Kathmandu Model Kennel Club and Veterinary Health Research Pvt Ltd where the dogs will be sterilised to stop breeding.