Ferocious Dog Ban
- In March, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying issued a circular prohibiting the import, breeding, and selling of 24 “ferocious” dog breeds.
- The ban was imposed on Pitbull Terrier, Tosa Inu, American Staffordshire Terrier, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, American Bulldog, Boerboel, Kangal, Central Asian Shepherd, Caucasian Shepherd, South Asian Shepherd, Tornjak, Sarplaninac, Japanese Tosa, Akita, Mastiffs (Boer bulls), Rottweiler, Terriers, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Wolf dogs, Canario, Akbash, Moscow Guard, Cane Corso and every dog of the type commonly known as Bandog.
- The Madras High Court restrained the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying from taking a final decision on the ongoing process of collecting objections and comments from people on classifying certain breeds of dogs as “ferocious and dangerous to human life” and consequently banning their import and breeding.
- The Ministry could continue to collect the objections and comments but should not take any final decision.
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has supported the initiative to ban “ferocious” dog breeds.
- Given the hot Indian weather, keeping cold country dogs such as huskies and Saint Bernards is cruel to them anyway.
- Dogs such as rottweilers and Dobermans, which require a lot of exercise, are sometimes kept in flats, which is harmful to them. And if you are cruel to an animal, their stress comes out in the form of conflict with humans.
Dig Deeper: Find out about native breeds recognised by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) like the Mudhol hound.
