Goa govt tables bill to allow it to declare animals ferocious, ban domestication
In 2023, chief minister Pramod Sawant promised to ban aggressive breeds of dogs after a Rottweiler jumped over the gate of his house and attacked two children, seriously injuring one of them
The Goa government has tabled a bill in the assembly seeking to allow it to declare “any breed or class of animals” as “ferocious” and banning their domestication and breeding.
The move on Monday came two years after chief minister Pramod Sawant promised to ban aggressive breeds of dogs after a Rottweiler jumped over the gate of his house and attacked two children, seriously injuring one of them. There have been a series of such cases since. In August 2022, a dog mauled to death a five-year-old boy. Stray dogs killed a toddler in April this year.
State animal husbandry Nilkanth Halarnkar said the Goa Animal Breeding and Domestication (Regulation and Compensation) Bill aims to prohibit domestication and breeding of ferocious animals. He added it provides for regulation of breeding and domestication of animals.
The bill says owners of animals declared “ferocious” shall be solely responsible for their actions and liable, if they harm any human or animal, for paying compensation. It seeks to allow the legal representative of anyone killed by a “ferocious” animal to seek compensation from the owner.
The bill says once a breed or class of animals is declared ferocious, the owners will have 30 days to inform in writing the animal husbandry director about their existence. The owners will then have 60 days to sterilize the animal and obtain a certificate from the director confirming the sterilization.
Owners of ferocious animals, failing to comply with the law, are liable to be punished with simple imprisonment, which may extend to three months and shall not be less than 15 days. The bill proposes a fine of up to ₹50,000 and community service as well. It seeks to empower courts to order community service in place of imprisonment.
