The Delhi High Court on March 21 issued notice to the Centre on a petition challenging a recent notification banning 23 breeds of “ferocious” dogs and mandatory sterilisation for current owners.
During the hearing, the court remarked that the Centre’s notification was a “policy decision” taken by domain experts. The court, however, hinted that it could look into the other aspect of the notification that mandate all current owners of the banned breeds of dogs to forcibly sterilise their pets.
The petition filed by four persons challenged the March 12 notification of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, banning the import, breeding, and selling of the breeds including Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Dogo Argentine, American Bulldog, etc.
The plea said the “notification is characterised by its lack of scientific basis, devoid of any research or reports supporting the purported cause of reducing dog bites or enhancing public safety”.
“The notification lacks a comprehensive framework or research-backed methodology to define what exactly constitutes a “ferocious breed” and how the selected breeds fit into this classification,” it added.
The plea further stated that enforcing breed-specific legislation can be challenging, especially when determining a dog’s breed is not straightforward or when dealing with mixed-breed dogs.
The court will hear the case again in August.
