Win for pet owners: Kerala HC allows vehicle passes to buy pet food during lockdown

Kochi: Here's a piece of good news for pet owners in Kerala.

From today, they can use sworn affidavit – a statement describing the purpose of travel during the lockdown period - to buy food for their pets, thanks to a favourable order from the Kerala High Court on Monday.

The court directive vindicated Maradu resident N Prakash, who approached the court after police had denied him a vehicle pass to buy food for his pet cats.

The High Court bench, comprising Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Shaji P Chaly, took up the case through video conferencing on Monday.

Prakash owns three cats and the police had refused to issue him vehicle pass twice for unknown reasons.

Prakash, a retired High Court employee, said in his plea that he sought vehicle pass online to travel to Kadavanthra to buy Me-O Persian, a non-veg biscuit usually fed to his cats. One packet of 7-kg Me-O Persian is sufficient for three weeks, as per his plea. He has almost run out of stock and he cannot arrange proper food for his cats as he is a vegetarian and non-veg food is not cooked at his home.

Additional Advocate General Ranjith Thampan submitted that the petitioner could go for buying the pet food on the basis of a self-declaration, legal website Live Law reported.

The court noted that 'animal food and fodder' are covered under essential items, and the petitioner would be able to go on the basis of a self-declaration, along with its order.

The court also said it would pass a general order allowing people to travel during lockdown to buy essential items.