“Decide In 3 Months Representation To Ban Dangerous Dog Breeds”: Delhi HC To Centre

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday has asked the Centre to decide expeditiously, preferably within 3 months, a representation to ban and cancel the licence to keep “dangerous” dog breeds such as Pitbull, Terriers, American Bulldog and Rottweiler.

A bench headed by the Acting Chief Justice Manmohan asked the petitioner, who made the representation in October, to let the authorities “take a call” on the issue as they were the ones who draft the relevant laws & regulations.

During the hearing, the court stressed the need for promoting the local breeds of dogs which are “sturdy”.

The court observed, “Indian breeds need to be taken care of. They are far more sturdy. They don’t fall sick that often because they have acclimatized. Today we are vocal for local.”

The central government lawyer stated that the representation has already been sent to the concerned department and a decision will be taken after consultation with stakeholders.

The bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkanra, ordered, “they (the authorities) shall decide representation as expeditiously as possible, preferably within 3 months.”

On October 5, a division-bench headed by then Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma refused to entertain the petitioner’s PIL on the issue, stating that they should first approach the government authorities with its grievance.

In its petition, Legal Attorneys & Barristers Law Firm alleged that dog breeds like Bulldog, Rottweiler, Pitbull, Terriers, Neapolitan Mastiff are “dangerous dogs” and are banned in more than 12 countries including India but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was still registering them to be kept as pets.

The petition highlighted that there had been many incidents of such dog breeds attacking people including their owners.

It stated, “lt is the need of the hour to ban and cancel the licence to keep dogs such as Pitbull, Terriers, American bulldog, Rottweiler, Japanese Tosa, Bandog, Neapolitan Mastiff, Wolf Dog, Boerboel, Presa Canario, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu, Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino and cross breeds of above-mentioned dogs.”

The petition asserted that it was the duty of the Centre and the state government to act as welfare state and to take preemptive action to save the lives of the citizens from the risk of any major dog bite incident by these “dangerous” breeds.