Penalties of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500; animals of fourth-time offenders to be sent to Pinjrapole

Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), in a bid to control and prevent the menace of stray animals such as cows, bulls, buffaloes and horses roaming freely on roads and causing problems to the public, has enhanced the fines for owners of stray animals.

Previously, the MCC, which catches stray animals and houses them at its cattle pound in the Sewage Farm premises at Vidyaranyapuram, collected a flat fine of Rs. 500 even for repeated offences before returning the animals to their owners.

However, repeated violations will now incur higher fines, as many owners ignored earlier warnings from MCC. The decision to increase the fines was taken at MCC Council meeting chaired by the Administrative Officer on July 30. Under the new structure, the fine for the first offence remains Rs. 500, the second offence will attract Rs. 1,000, the third Rs. 1,500, and on the fourth offence, the animal will be handed over to the Mysore Pinjrapole Society.

Between Sept. 4 and 15, a total of 123 stray animals were caught and returned to their owners after collecting a total of Rs. 62,500 in fines, according to MCC officials.