Through its circular, the Centre had asked all States and Union Territories (UTs) to ban 23 breeds of ‘ferocious dogs which are dangerous for human life’.
This was after the Central government had assured the Delhi High Court in December 2023 that it will expeditiously take a decision on the demand for a ban on licences to keep breeds of dogs considered to be dangerous.
Subsequently, an Expert Committee, chaired by the Animal Husbandry Commissioner and comprising members from various stakeholder organizations and experts, identified the following dog breeds as ferocious and dangerous to human life:
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Pitbull Terrier
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Tosa Inu
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American Staffordshire Terrier
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Fila Brasileiro
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Dogo Argentino
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American Bulldog
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Boerboel
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Kangal
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Central Asian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka)
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Caucasian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka)
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South Russian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka)
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Tornjak, Sarplaninac
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Japanese Tosa,
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Japanese Akita,
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Mastiffs
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Rottweiler
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Terriers
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Rhodesian Ridgeback
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Wolf dogs
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Canario Akbash dog
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Moscow Guard dog
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Cane Corso
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Every dog of the type commonly known as Ban Dog (or Bandog).
It, therefor, urged all States and UTs to ban the above breeds.
Challenging the decision, the petitioners before the Karnataka High Court argued that the circular was highly arbitrary, without jurisdiction and profoundly discriminatory in nature.
The plea also argued that no particular dog breed can be identified as an aggressive breed. Any stand-alone incident of attack by the breed can be attributed only to the untrained and unsocialised dogs, it added.
“There are several dog breeds which are not covered under the impugned circular which have also caused dogs attacks, and for the said reason the rationale behind the classification in the impugned circular is highly arbitrary and is liable to be set aside,” the petitioners contended.
Source: Barandbench
