For Immediate Release:
16 October 2024
Contact:
Shaurya Agrawal; ShauryaA@petaindia.org
Hiral Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Chandigarh – Following an attack in Faridabad in which a 22-year-old man’s pit bull viciously tore off most of his ear, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India sent a letter to Haryana’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, appealing to it to implement a state-wide policy prohibiting the breeding, selling, or keeping of dog breeds such as pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, Pakistani bully kuttas, Dogo Argentinos (Argentine mastiffs), Presa Canarios (Spanish mastiffs), Fila Brasileiros (Brazilian mastiffs), bull terriers, and XL bullies, who are commonly bred and used for illegal fighting. PETA India warns that such dogs are often sold to unsuspecting buyers who are themselves attacked or otherwise cannot control the animals.
Panchkula Municipal Corporation in Haryana is one the first cities in India to implement rules on keeping pit bulls and Rottweilers within city limits. Recently, Chandigarh, the capital of Haryana also passed a ban on keeping or breeding six such dog breeds. In the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation endorsed a proposal to ban the rearing of pit bulls, Rottweilers, and Dogo Argentino breeds and Kanpur Municipal Corporation passed a resolution prohibiting the rearing of pit bull and Rottweiler breeds.
A copy of the letter sent to the Haryana government is available upon request.
“Pit bull–type dog breeds are bred to be unstoppable weapons and abused in dogfights,” says PETA India Advocacy Associate Shaurya Agrawal. “We call for Haryana to immediately pass a statewide policy that prohibits keeping, breeding, or selling these dogs to protect humans from attacks and dogs from abuse.”
Pit bulls and similar foreign dog breeds are primarily used for dogfighting in India, even though inciting dogs to fight is illegal under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Without suitable enforcement and regulation, organised dogfights have become prevalent in parts of the country, making pit bull–type dogs and others used in these fights the most abused dog breeds. Pit bulls and related breeds are also otherwise typically kept on heavy chains as attack dogs, resulting in aggressive defensive behaviour and a lifetime of suffering. Many endure painful physical mutilations, such as ear cropping and tail docking – illegal procedures that involve removing part of a dog’s ears or their tail to try to prevent another dog from grabbing them during a fight. These dogs are encouraged to continue fighting until they become exhausted and at least one is seriously injured or dies. Because dogfighting is illegal, injured dogs are not taken to veterinarians.
A prohibition could be achieved in the state by making sterilisation and registration of such dogs mandatory while prohibiting breeding, keeping, or selling them after a stipulated date. PETA India is also calling for a closure of illegal pet shops and breeders as well as a crackdown on illegal dogfighting.
PETA India – whose motto reads that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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