The Delhi High Court scrapped a circular issued by the Centre last month that banned the import, breeding, and sale of 24 dog breeds.
The circular issued on March 12 was put out by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying to address concerns about people being killed by bites from “ferocious and dangerous” dog breeds kept as pets.
According to a report by Bar and Bench, in its ruling on April 16, a division bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora took note of the Centre’s circular that, besides government bodies, no private body was consulted before the ban was imposed.
The court, in its order, stated, “He (counsel for the Central government) states that he has no objection if the impugned circular is set aside with a direction to the respondents to issue a fresh circular/notification after giving an opportunity to all the stakeholders to raise their objections. Keeping in view the aforesaid statement by learned counsel for Union of India, the impugned circular dated 12th March 2024 is set aside.”
The high court also recommended that the central government should publish a public notice in a national newspaper and on its website, inviting written objections to the proposed/draft notification/amendment to the rules within a two-week period.
“The objections filed in response to the advertisement/ publication on the website shall be examined and decided by the respondents before issuing the final notification. the impugned circular was issued,” the Bench stated.
In a similar move on Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court also revoked the Centre’s directive banning certain dog breeds.
In its ruling, the high court stressed that pet owners and relevant organisations should have been consulted before a issuing circular banning “dangerous” dog breeds.
The court also highlighted the responsibility of pet owners in case their pets cause harm to others, emphasising that they are liable for covering any resulting expenses.
Last month, the Centre wrote to chief secretaries of states and Union territories, urging them to enforce a ban on the sale, breeding, and ownership of pit bulls and other breeds intentionally bred for aggression, often “utilised in illegal fighting and attacks”.
The breeds identified as “dangerous” by the Centre include Pitbull Terriers, Tosa Inus, American Staffordshire Terriers, Fila Brasileiros, Dogo Argentinos, American Bulldogs, Boerboels, Kangals, Central Asian Sheepdogs, Caucasian Shepherd Dogs, South Russian Shepherd Dogs, Tornjaks, Sarplaninacs, Japanese Tosas and Akitas, Mastiffs (Boerboels), Rottweilers, Terriers, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Wolf Dogs, Canary Dogs, Akbashes, Moscow Guard Dogs, Cane Corsos, and all types of dogs commonly referred to as Ban Dogs or Bandogs
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