After Pit Bull Attacks Woman in Uttarakhand, PETA India Renews Call for State to Ban Foreign Dog Breeds Bred for Attack
For Immediate Release:
06 June 2025
Contact:
Hiral Laljani; [email protected]
Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]
Dehradun – Following an attack on a 50-year-old woman in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, leaving the woman seriously injured and with a brain haemorrhage, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has sent a letter to the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Shri Anand Bardhan, IAS, renewing its call urging the state to implement a policy prohibiting the breeding, selling, and keeping of dog breeds such as pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, Pakistani bully kuttas, Dogo Argentinos (Argentine mastiffs), Presa Canarios, Fila Brasileiros (Brazilian mastiffs), bull terriers, Cane Corsos (Italian mastiffs), and XL bullies who have been deliberately bred for fighting and aggression. PETA India warns that such dogs are often sold to unsuspecting buyers who are themselves attacked or otherwise cannot control the animals.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh and the State of Goa are finalising prohibitions on the breeding, selling, and keeping of pit bull-like dogs bred for aggression and attack. Previously, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, and Panchkula Municipal Corporations were the first cities in India to implement rules on keeping pit bulls and Rottweilers within city limits.
A copy of the letter sent to the Government of Uttarakhand and footage of illegal dogfights held in India are available upon request.
“Pit bull and other such foreign dog breeds are bred to be unstoppable weapons and to be abused in dogfights,” says PETA India Advocacy Associate Shaurya Agrawal. “We urge Uttarakhand to immediately pass a statewide policy that prohibits the keeping, breeding, or selling of these dogs to protect humans from attacks and dogs from abuse.”
Pit bulls, Rottweilers 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, 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 requiring such dogs to be mandatorily sterilised and registered while prohibiting the breeding, keeping, or selling of these dogs 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 dogfights.
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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