Report No. 261

C. Present report of the Commission

1.3.1 The 20th Commission took note of the letter from AWBI and the various representations received by animal rights and animal welfare organisations throughout the country in this regard. The Commission recognised the need to examine whether the Central Government is empowered to issue rules under the relevant legislation for the purpose of regulating pet shops, dog breeding and aquarium fish breeding. In light of this, the Commission has undertaken the present study on "Need to Regulate Pet Shops and Dog and Aquarium Fish Breeding" in order to provide the Government with its views on the scope of its powers, and examine the necessity of regulating such practices.

1.3.2 In order to undertake the present study, the Commission formed a sub-committee comprising the Chairman; Ms Dipika Jain, Associate Professor; Mr Brian Tronic, Assistant Professor; and Ms Swati Malik, Research Associate, Jindal Global Law School; and Ms Sumathi Chandrashekaran, Consultant, Law Commission of India, which finalised this report.