You can keep a pitbull as pet in India, but the Lucknow school teacher death should worry you

You hardly hear of pet dogs attacking their owner, let alone mauling them to death. But 82-year-old Lucknow woman Sushila Tripathi wasn't as lucky. Her 3-year-old pitbull Brownie attacked Tripathi on Tuesday (July 12) night and ended up killing her. Now, pitbulls aren't really considered safe as pets in many countries, precisely because they are dangerous. In India though, pitbulls can be kept as pets.

India and pitbull attacks

• In February 2022, an American Pitbull attacked a 6-year-old child in the morning when the child was out in the park to play with his friend, Times of India reported. The dog was on a leash with its owner, but still managed to attack the child. 
• In May 2022, a pet pitbull attacked 5 people including a visually impaired man in Mohali, Punjab, Hindustan Times reported. The dog had a history of attacking people, there were complaints too, but the owner wasn’t warned by the police.

More pitbull attacks have taken place in India, but the dog is yet to be banned as pets.

What is a pitbull? Pitbulls are actually a group of dogs and not a single breed. It is primarily a medium-sized, short-haired dog with a solid build. It is a cross between bulldogs and terrier-type dogs, first developed in the 19th century in US by mixing an English bulldog and terrier.

Why are pitbulls banned? The Lucknow school teacher death brings the spotlight back on the pitbull problem in India. Pitbulls have a history of being violent and therefore, it is banned as pets in at least 30 countries around the world including UK, France, Australia and New Zealand. Pitbulls have a tendency to attack human beings around. In places where they are legal (but with restrictions), like the US, pitbulls have either killed or seriously injured people.

Laws in other countries: UK, for example, brought in a law in 1991 to ban pitbulls in the country. Between 1981 and 1991, there were at least 15 fatal dog attacks in England and the Wales.

Pitbulls are also known as thief dogs as they are often kept by criminals to attack and intimidate people.