All pleas against Centre’s circular banning ‘dangerous’ dog breeds to be heard together: Delhi High Court

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) moved by one Pet Lovers Association, challenging the March 12 circular of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying) on the ground that it violates a December 6, 2023, order of the HC as “a ban has been imposed on 23 different dog breeds without inviting suggestions from all the stakeholders”. The circular aimed to address concerns about human deaths caused by dog bites from “ferocious” breeds kept as pets.

According to the bench, another PIL — ‘Canine Welfare Association v Union of India and Another’ — concerning the same circular was pending before it. In this case, the HC had on April 1 asked the Centre to produce the original file pertaining to the circular. It, thereafter, disposed of the petitioner association’s PIL, while permitting it to file an application to intervene or seek impleadment in the pending PIL. The bench also transferred pleas pending before single judges on the same issue to itself, and listed the matter for April 9.

The petitioner association claimed that the circular is contrary to the HC’s December 6, 2023, order passed in a separate matter where the petitioner therein — ‘The Legal Attorneys and Barristers Law Firm’ — had sought for a direction to “ban/ cancel” the licence to keep certain “dangerous dogs such as Pitbull, Terriers, American Bulldog, Rottweiler” among others. This order records the Centre’s submission that it shall decide the petitioner’s representation after “consulting all the stakeholders as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within three months”.

On March 21, a single-judge bench of the HC had in a plea moved by one Sikander Singh Thakur issued notice to the Centre in the plea, challenging the circular, and listed it for August 9.

The circular mentioned “breeds (including mixed and cross breeds) like Pitbull Terrier, Tosa Inu, American Staffordshire Terrier, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, American Bulldog, Boerboel, Kangal, Central Asian Shepherd Dog (ovcharka), Caucasian Shepherd Dog (ovcharka), South Russian Shepherd Dog (ovcharka), Tornjak, Sarplaninac, Japanese Tosa and Akita, Mastiffs (boerbulls), Rottweiler, Terriers, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Wolf Dogs, Canario, Akbash dog, Moscow Guard dog, Cane corso, and every dog of the type commonly known as a Ban Dog (or Bandog)”.

“The committee has recommended that the aforementioned dog breeds, including cross breeds, shall be prohibited for import, breeding, selling as pet dogs and other purposes. Therefore, it is requested that the local bodies, Department of Animal Husbandry shall not issue any licence or permit for sale, breeding of dog breeds as mentioned above and keeping these dog breeds shall be banned. The local bodies may also issue necessary implementation guidelines in this regard. However, dogs which have already (been) kept as pets shall be sterilised, so that further breeding may not happen,” stated the circular.

These recommendations came from an expert committee, formed under the chairmanship of the Animal Husbandry Commissioner. The committee was said to include various stakeholder organisations and experts as members.