bengaluru the bruhat bengaluru mahanagara palike bbmp will crack down on illegal pet shops and unauthorised dog breeding with immediate effect at a bbmp council meeting it was decided that the civic body will also get state animal welfare board sawb involved in the drive with this bengaluru will become the first city to adopt the centres guidelines on regulating pet shops and dog breeding the previous coalition government constituted sawb as mandated by the centres guidelines the chief minister heads sawb and the animal husbandry minister monitors its activities regulation is a must to ensure breeders and pet shop owners follow prescribed norms avoid cruelty to animals and ensure transparency in the system in the absence of rules its impossible for bbmp to control the growing number of breeders the palike had written to the animal husbandry department earlier in january the new guidelines call for pet shops and breeding centres to get registered with sawb following which they can seek licence from bbmp according to a civic official dog breeding is a highly remunerative industry in the city involving thousands of breeders and pet shops there were allegations that breeders were not taking proper care of canines and many puppies were found to be diseased and weak resulting in high mortality pups not fit for sale were abandoned on streets putting pressure on the citys limited veterinary infrastructure dog breeding is illegally conducted on apartment terraces besides foreign breeds are illegally brought and forced into mating despite their inability to adjust to local weather another officer said