Goa cabinet nod for new law to ban import, sale, breeding of ferocious dog breeds

Pramod Sawant said the new bill, which will replace the 2024 ordinance of the same name, will be tabled in the upcoming session of the Goa assembly

Panaji: The Goa cabinet on Wednesday approved the Goa Animal Breeding, Domestication Regulation and Compensation Bill 2025, which proposes to ban import, sale, and breeding of dog breeds such as Rottweilers, Pitbulls, and Bulldogs, and to regulate those already in the state, chief minister Pramod Sawant said.

Animal husbandry minister Nilkanth Halarnkar said that once approved, the bill will ban aggressive dog breeds including Rottweilers, Pitbulls, and Bulldogs (File/Pexel)

Sawant said the new bill, which will replace the 2024 ordinance of the same name, will be tabled in the upcoming session of the Goa assembly.

Animal husbandry minister Nilkanth Halarnkar said that once approved, the bill will ban aggressive dog breeds including Rottweilers, Pitbulls, and Bulldogs. However, existing owners will be allowed to keep their pets, subject to strict regulations to ensure the animals do not pose a threat to society.

Sawant promised to ban ‘aggressive’ breeds of dogs in 2023 after one case where a Rottweiler jumped over the gate and attacked two children. In August last year, a five-year-old boy was mauled to death by a Pitbull when he was visiting his mother who worked at the dog owner’s House.

In Assagao village in north Goa, the authorities directed owners of certain breeds “not to leave or roam with their pets in open public places” and threatened to prosecute them if this rule was violated.

The February 4 order was issued after a Rottweiler attacked a 40-year-old man who sustained severe injuries in the attack.

According to data presented by the Union health ministry in the Lok Sabha on April 1, “dog bite cases in Goa have gone up from 8,057 in 2022 to 11,904 in 2023 and 17,236 in 2024. In January this year, the state reported 1,789 bite cases.”