It is a Punjabi status symbol to own a ferocious Bully Kutta and train him not only to fight illegally, but also to hunt wild animals such as wild boars and hares, attack, and kill them.
Dog Fights
Such “dangerous” dogs that ferociously fight each other to death are called Bully Kutta and are similar to the vicious pit bulls which were bred specially for fighting and have been banned in many parts of the world due to their killer instincts and actions. The mastiffs are common in Pakistan (like the “Kohatie Gul Terr”) from where they are smuggled into India via border districts of Haryana and Punjab, particularly Fatehabad and Hisar districts of Haryana. Dogs are also brazenly brought in by travellers on the Lahore-Amritsar bus with the help of requisite certificates. Kept as so-called guard dogs in farm-houses they are bred, sold, trained and made to fight each other.
It has therefore become a status symbol in Punjab to own a ferocious Bully Kutta and train him to not only illegally fight another dog but to hunt. The dogs chase wild animals such as wild boar and hare, attack, and kill them; and since these dogs can easily follow the scent of a wild animal they are taken on illegal hunting trips by their gun-toting owners.
Investigations by Tehelka have revealed that a Bully Kutta’s daily diet consists of 1 kilogram raw mutton, 250 grams ghee mixed with almonds and chicken and 2 litres of milk. The dog is also made to chase and kill a live chicken. In addition, the dog’s training involves being made to swim in ice-cold water.
Following different breeds of dogs being brought illegally into the country, in April 2013 the Government of India changed its policy regarding import: only those persons who had stayed abroad continuously for two years could bring in two pets as baggage. This was expected to curb Bully Kuttas from being brought into the country, but it did not happen. However in 2017 the newspapers reported that sedated dogs, particularly from Eastern Europe and Russia, smuggled in suitcases were being detected by Customs.
In 2016 Bully Kuttas, Pakistani Mastiffs and Indian Alangu Mastiffs continued to be openly sold on the internet marketplace sites such as olx.in. That they are from cities all over India proves that dog fights are clandestinely being held.
On 12 March 2024 the Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India sent an Advisory to the Chief Secretaries of all States & UTs not to issue any licences or permits for sale and breeding of ferocious dogs. This was as a result of a report by an Expert Committee with members from various stakeholder organisations and experts set up following an order by the Delhi High Court in response to a Writ Petition about ferocious dogs kept as pets that bite humans. The Committee under the chairmanship of the Animal Husbandry Commissioner recommended a ban on the import, breeding and sale of particular breeds of ferocious dogs and existing pets of these breeds would need to be sterilised. The breeds indentified covered mixed and cross breeds of: Pitbull Terrier, Tosa Inu, American Staffordshire Terrier, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, American Bulldog, Boerboel, Kangal, Central Asian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka), Caucacian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka), South Russian Shepherd Dog (Ovcharka), Tornjak, Sarplaninac, Japanese Tosa and Akita, Mastiffs (Boerbulls), Rottweiler, Terriers, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Wolf Dogs, Canario, Akbash Dog, Moscow Guard Dog, Cane Corso and every dog of the type commonly known as Ban Dog or Bandog (i.e. bully kutta).
BWC hoped that this would herald the beginning of the end of Bully Kutta) fights, but there have been immediate setbacks: the Karnataka HC stayed the circular on 19 March 2024 and then quashed the ban on 23 ‘ferocious’ dog breeds on 10 April 2024 citing lack of stakeholder consultation; the Calcutta HC ordered a partial stay; and the Delhi HC sought the Centre’s response.
Then in January 2025 the Government of India told the Bombay High Court that it is currently not acting on the Notification which prohibited the import, breeding and selling of 23 dog breeds deemed ‘dangerous and ferocious’ and that a public notice had been issued inviting objections to the notification. The counsel said that the GOI would take a suitable decision after considering the objections.
BWC has written to the AWBI wishing them success in upholding the Notification and suggested that one more breed, that is Greyhounds be added to the list of 23 ferocious dogs. Greyhounds are turned ferocious by making them chase and tare apart live bait like rabbits and cats. Having tasted blood and kept hungry, and even drugged, they run on race tracks after mechanical rabbits.
Page last updated on 03/11/25