» » Ban on foreign dogs breeds evokes mixed reactionsBishwabijoy MitraDuring his trip to Switzerland last year, Shouvik Ghosh, a north Kolkata-based dog bought an eight-month-old male German breeder, shepherd for `6 lakh. Soon after, the dog's future puppies were booked for the next two years. Seeing the huge demand, he decided to add another male GSD to his collection, but last month's central government decision to ban import of foreign dogs came as a big blow for the likes of him. "The dog breeding industry will suffer heavily because of this decision.But, yes, it will force dog lovers and breeders to shift focus to Indian pure breeds, which have been neglected over the years," Shouvik told us.WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?In April, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade -an organisation under the Union commerce and industry ministry -banned import of foreign dogs for breeding and commercial purposes. It, however, allowed imports for defence and police forces and for R&D organisations permitted by the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals.

According to the directive, only pet dogs with a valid pet book and documents in the name of the importer can be imported.While dog lovers and breeders are extremely critical about the Centre's decision, the move has been welcomed by animal rights activists and pet lovers.ACTIVISTS SPEAKAnimal rights activists believe that most dog owners and breeders do not even follow the basic ethics when it comes to raising pets. They say while keeping expensive foreign dog breeds is more of a status symbol for many , instances of unscientific breeding are rampant too. Boxer Puppies Sale Fort Wayne IndianaPETA India spokesperson Nikunja Sharma says that the recent ban will help prevent animal cruelty in a big way ."Blue Pitbull Puppies For Sale Memphis TnSeveral dog breeds like Siberian huskies, Tibetan mastiffs, Alaskan malamutes and St Bernards are regularly imported into the country . Garden Furniture Javea

Out of these, many belong to extremely cold cli mates and develop severe health issues while coping with Indian weather," she says.Shatanu Banerjee, a dog lover who runs an NGO that takes care of the street dogs, feels the physical and psycho logical ordeal a foreign dog has to undergo in India is cruel. "Just like swimming pools are not an apt place to keep blue whales, Kolkata is not suitable for a Siberian husky or a St Bernard. Dogs are beautiful animals. It's our responsibility to look after them," he says. look after them," he says.WHAT BREEDERS SAYDog breeders, however, have a different take on the issue alto gether. According to them, the gene pool available in India is not just limited but also of poor quality.Bringing high-quality foreign breeds from outside the country enriches the gene pool here. Foreign dogs born in India suffer from a number of diseases because of poor gene quality . For instance, Great Danes are quite prone to hip dysplasia in our country, whereas in the US, the disease has almost disappeared from the breed.

Similarly , Indian pugs do not have a natural delivery, which also is a genetic dis ease," said Vinay Jaiswal, who owns 14 dogs, including four imported Labradors. He says the only way to counter these problems is to introduce new genes and the directive will prevent that."Future generations of these dogs will suffer," he adds."Most dogs are imported by hobbyists and this ban will affect that," says S Raman, secretary , Kolkata chapter of the Kennel Club of India while explaining that importing exotic dig breeds is harmful only for a handful of dogs.Though the dog breeding industry is highly unregulated and there is no official count of dogs being brought into the country, the number is not more than 500 per year in Kolkata, sources at the Kennel Club say . "Just a hand ful of these dogs are Huskies or St Bernards. Most of other breeds, like Dobermans or Labradors, can live in the Indian climate. We need to import dogs to improve breed quality , just like it's done for cattle. On the flip side, people will now look for illegal ways to do it," says Karim Rahaman, a dog trainer and a breeder.

Rounak Saha, who has owned a Doberman for the last 13 years along with three other breeds, including another foreign one, has a similar view. "My experience says that most foreign breeds like Dobermans and Boxers do not have problems in the Indian climate. So, rather than banning import of all breeds, the government should categorise breeds and places where they need to be banned," he suggests.VET'S TAKEVeterinarian Gautam Mukherjee supports both sides of the argument. He says while many foreign breeds, which belong to extremely cold climates, do suffer a lot in our country, there are some pedigreed breeds that can easily survive here. Citing the example of an Alaskan malamute, he says, "Though owners keep them in air-conditioned rooms most of the time, the dogs are exposed to extreme heat when they go out for walks, causing them to develop various health issues. But a Labrador or a Great Dane may not face such problems," he says. The ban is likely to increase the sale of pure Indian breeds like Rajapalayam, Chippiparai, Kanni and Combai, though many such breeds are already extinct due to years of negligence.

Recently, the Indian Army deployed six Mudhol hounds -a native breed from north Karnataka -as sniffer dogs.Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device. John Bernard Larroquette (born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the 1984–1992 sitcom Night Court (winning a then-unprecedented four consecutive Emmy Awards for his role), Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, Lionel Tribbey on The West Wing, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal. He is currently playing Jenkins/Galahad in TNT's The Librarians. The John Larroquette Show Larroquette was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Berthalla Oramous (née Helmstetter), a department store clerk who mostly sold children's clothes, and John Edgar Bernard[] Larroquette, Jr., who was in the U.S. Navy. Larroquette himself is not a junior or a III as his name does not contain "Edgar."[2] He grew up in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans not far from the French Quarter.

He played clarinet and saxophone through childhood and into high school, where he and some friends organized a band they called The N.U.D.E.L.E.S (The New Universal Demonstration for Love, Ecstasy and Sound). He discovered acting in his senior year of high school. He moved to Hollywood in 1973 after working in radio as DJ during the early days of 'underground' radio, when each disc jockey was free to play what they wished. Larroquette met his wife Elizabeth Ann Cookson in 1974 while working in the play Enter Laughing. They were married July 4, 1975, as that was the only day they had off from rehearsals.[3] They have three children, Lisa, Jonathan, and Ben. Their son Jonathan cohosts a comedy podcast called Uhh Yeah Dude. Larroquette battled alcoholism from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 10, 2007, he joked, "I was known to have a cocktail or 60." He stopped drinking February 6, 1982. Larroquette collects rare books. Authors on whose works he has focused include Samuel Beckett, Charles Bukowski, Anthony Burgess, William Burroughs (and other beat writers), David Foster Wallace, John Fante, Michael Ondaatje, and John Steinbeck.

His first 'job' in Hollywood was providing the opening voiceover narration for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Larroquette did this as a favor for the film's director Tobe Hooper. His first series regular role was in the 1970s NBC program Black Sheep Squadron, where he portrayed a WWII United States Marine Corps fighter pilot named 2nd Lt. Bob Anderson. In a 1975 appearance on Sanford and Son, Larroquette plays Lamont's counterpart in a fictitious sitcom based on Fred and Lamont called "Steinberg and Son". During the filming of Stripes (1981), his nose was nearly cut off in an accident. He ran down a hall into a door that was supposed to open but did not, and his head went through the window in the door. Larroquette attending the Emmy Awards in 1988 Larroquette is best known for his role as Dan Fielding on Night Court; the character was initially rather conservative, but changed after the show's creator Reinhold Weege came to learn more about Larroquette's sense of humor.

[3] The role won him Emmy Awards in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1989, he asked not to be considered for an Emmy.[6] His four consecutive wins were, at the time, a record. Night Court ran on NBC from 1984 until 1992. Only Larroquette, Harry Anderson (as Judge Harry Stone), and Richard Moll (as bailiff Bull Shannon) appeared in every episode of the series. There was talk of spinning Dan Fielding off into his own show, but Larroquette said no to the idea. Instead of a spinoff, Larroquette and Don Reo developed a show revolving around some of Larroquette's own personal demons, particularly alcoholism. The John Larroquette Show, named by the insistence of NBC, starred Larroquette as the character John Hemingway. The show was lauded by critics and enjoyed a loyal cult following.[] It ran for three and a half seasons. In 1998, he guest-starred on three episodes of the legal drama The Practice. His portrayal of Joey Heric, a wealthy, wisecracking, narcissistic psychopath with a habit of stabbing his gay lovers to death, won him his fifth Emmy Award.

He reprised the role for one episode in 2002, for which he was once again Emmy Award-nominated. He also appeared in an episode of The West Wing as Lionel Tribbey, White House Counsel. In 2003, Larroquette reprised his narration for the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From 2004 to 2006, he played the title role in the McBride series of American television films. In 2007, he joined the cast of Boston Legal playing Carl Sack, a serious, ethical lawyer (the polar opposite of his more famous lawyer character, Dan Fielding). He also guest-starred in the drama House where he played a previously catatonic father awakened to try to save his son, and on Chuck as veteran spy Roan Montgomery.[7] He has also made two voice roles in Phineas and Ferb for Bob Weber, for a lifeguard, as well as a man to marry his wife and the boy's aunt Tiana Weber in another episode. Most recently, Larroquette has been seen as a regular on The Librarians as Jenkins (actually the long-lived Camelot knight Sir Galahad), who provides support to the Librarians as a researcher and caretaker.

His starring roles include the 1989 film Second Sight with Bronson Pinchot, and Madhouse with Kirstie Alley. Other films in which Larroquette had significant roles include: Blind Date, Stripes, Meatballs Part II, Summer Rental, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, JFK, and Richie Rich. Larroquette made his musical stage debut in the Los Angeles production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as Old Max in 2009. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying as J. B. Biggley alongside Daniel Radcliffe.[4] He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the show. He also appeared on Broadway in a revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man; the all-star cast also included James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, Mark Blum, Eric McCormack, Jefferson Mays, and Michael McKean, who needed to be replaced after suffering in a car accident during the run of the show.