Lucknow, April 5 : There is bad news for dog lovers in Lucknow. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has decided not only to hike the pet licence fees but also limit the number of pets for an owner. An individual cannot keep more than two dogs at a time. The civic body also implemented a similar policy for keeping cows as pets (not for dairy purposes) and has increased the licence fee 16 times. The fee revision has been done after several years. As per the new policy, dog owners will have to pay Rs 1,000 per dog annually for all foreign breeds. Earlier, the fee for big foreign breeds was Rs 500 and for small foreign breeds Rs 300. But, for the desi dog breeds, the licence fee will be Rs 200 annually. Similarly, those who want to keep a cow at home will have to pay Rs 500 annually as licence fee and one can keep only two cows in their household which needs to have enough space for feeding and movement of the animal. Earlier, the fee was Rs 32 per annum and has been revised after 34 years. Chief veterinary officer, LMC, Dr Abhinav Verma, said that the civic body will conduct surveys on a regular basis to ensure that the new norms are being followed. He also said that the policy on limiting the number of pet dogs will be amended in coming days as per the guidelines recommended by the state government. The guidelines fixed the number of pet dogs one can have based on the area of open space in the house. "If a house is built in around 167 square meter, the owner will be allowed to keep only two dogs, but if the area is around 250 square meter, the owner can keep four dogs," said Verma. The reason for fixing the area per pet is that if dogs are kept in a congested place, it leads to aggressive behaviour in them leading to problems for the neighbours, he added. Those who want to run a dairy will have to open it outside the city limits because keeping cattle requires a farm, he said. /IANS